Forever
by Hawk Clowd
Summary: Basically, as the story says, the progeny of the G-pilots wreak havoc. Then, of course, we delve into secret organizations, kidnapping, and a few choice betrayels. --Incomplete--
1. Chapter One

Forever

PART ONE

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

It was a chilly Friday afternoon in early April.  Around two o'clock, it began to rain on colony L973, where the Hemlock High School was located.  In Mr. Aristo's history class, a group of seventeen- year old students were being lectured one the war of the Gundams, now called the Endless Waltz.

"The five Gundam pilots regrouped at the Winner mansion to discuss their battle plans for the next day," Mr. Aristo said, looking at his class through thick glasses.

"Bor-ing!!!" a young voice rang out, accompanied by a few muffled giggles.  The speaker tapped her pen against her desk.

Mr. Aristo sighed and adjusted his glasses.  "Miss Via, is your opinion really necessary at this time?  It seems you could take more interest in the Endless Waltz, as you are the descendant of one of our heroic pilots."

Via Maxwell stood up.  "First of all, it happened over three hundred years ago!  I don't care!  Secondly, I've listened to my great great grand daddy's journals so many times I think I know the story by heart!"

"I doubt that, Miss Via, considering your poor grades on your tests.  Care to give an explanation?" Mr. Aristo asked.

"My grand daddy Duo was more of a people person than an events person.  He cared more about Heero Yuy than he did the date and time Relena Peacecraft was announced 'Queen of the World.'"

Billy Krenek, a friend of Via's, snickered.  "Considering how annoying Miss Peacecraft was said to have been, is it any wonder?"

Sari Limn laughed.  "And Heero was pretty kawaii himself!"  She held up her history book to the page where the Gundam pilots were pictured.  "Can we say sexy?"  The entire class broke into exclamations of agreement and approval.

"Actually," Via said with a wicked grin, "I think that Duo was pretty kawaii, too."

Billy laughed at her.  "You're only saying that because you look a little like him!"

Via shrugged.  "Hey, if the truth hurts..." The rowdy shouts continued.  Just as Mr. Aristo decided to reign in his students, the final bell rang, signaling the completion of yet another day.  Via and her friends all gathered around the door, talking and laughing.  Mr. Aristo was almost sorry to interrupt them.

"Miss Via.  Come here, please."  Via shrugged and looked over at her friends, who gestured that they'd wait outside.  

"What's up, Mr. Aristo?"

"Not your grades, I'm afraid.  I was serious about those, Miss Via.  Ever since we began our unit on the Endless Waltz, your grades have been plummeting dramatically."

"And I was serious about why.  I'm a lot like Duo, I guess.  I could care less about events and all," Via, for the first time today, looked worried.  "But my uncle'll kill me if he finds out how bad I'm doing."

"I want to give you a chance to catch up.  You say you still have your grandfather's journals from the war?"

"Yep.  Duo was big on that sort of thing."  Via grinned.  "You should hear some of that stuff!"

"Mm.  Perhaps you could research the journals.  The more work you do, the more points you'll earn.  Deal?"

Via thought about this.  Her violet eyes narrowed.  "Just how much work are we talking?"

Mr. Aristo almost laughed.  She did look a lot like Duo's picture in the history book, except for her hair, which was cropped at her shoulders in a fashionable bob.  "Just a short report on the journals, or on the people Duo Maxwell spoke of.  Your choice.  Then present it to the class.  As I said, the more you do, the more you'll earn."

"Cool.  How much time do I have?"

Mr. Aristo thought about this briefly.  "Until the end of the unit, which should give you a month or so.  Can you do it?"

"No problem!  Hey, what if I track down other pilot descendants and see if their personal plagues kept journals too?"

"You could do that, if you like.  But they might not all refer to the heroic pilots as their own personal plagues, Miss Via."

"I'll keep that in mind," Via chirped happily.  To her friends, she called: "Hey, guys!  I might pass history after all!"  With that, she ran from the room, almost kicking her heels together.

Three hours later, Via was surrounded by piles of disks, each with a segment of Duo's story.  The story, in Via's opinion, was pretty interesting in itself, but trying to figure out the order each one went in was a pain.  They were all labeled, of course, but Duo's original chicken scratch had not improved after three hundred years of gathering dust.  Then there was trying to remember how the ancient disk player worked.  That was enough to keep any sane person away!  But Via had to earn those extra credit points somehow, and this seemed to be the easiest way at the time.

Via sighed.  If this kept up, she'd still be listening to the disks when the deadline came up!  She had only gotten the first set of disks organized, and there were still twelve sets left!  If only she could just find a way to go back in time. She frowned.  If only...

She hit her fist against the table.  Why couldn't those stupid doctors who had built the stupid Gundams still be alive?  It just didn't seem fair!  Tears welled up in her eyes as a shred of glass from the soda bottle she had broken earlier wedged into her hand.  Cursing, she made her way, bleeding, to the bathroom, where she proceeded to wash and bandage the cut.  She could hear her uncle in the other room, going about his usual business.

"Okay," she said, getting back to the disks.  "Let's get cracking."  She looked around.  "Can't take that long, after all."  She sat down, looking critically at her white shirt for any bloodstains.  The cut had been bleeding pretty heavily, but the only spots she could see were small and on her jeans.  Her stomach growled.  "Pooh... now I'm hungry!  All this work makes me so, I suppose!"  She stood back, realizing she was only putting off the inevitable.  And that she was talking to herself.  "I'll get back to it later..."

The next day brought no more progress.  Via was working on the project every waking hour, which amounted to about three, but everything she had done the previous night seemed to have been either wrong or tampered with.  And, to make things worse, while taking a trip to the attic, she noticed a set of disks she had never seen before.  Sighing, she carried the heavy box downstairs to see if great great granddaddy Duo had done anything else of interest that wasn't covered in the other disks.

She fell asleep again before she could find out.  The following Sunday morning, she woke up early, still leaning over the aureoles. Yawning, she looked at the disks she'd found late the previous night.  Unlike the others, they weren't labeled, even though the box was littered with little phrases and poems from a script she didn't recognize.  Neat little block letters spelled out words of friendship, but it was not the handwriting of any relatives she knew of, nor were any of the lyrics autographed.  She frowned.  Who else had Duo shown his journals to?  Shaking her head, she placed one of the disks into the drive.  After a moment of tinkering with the controls, Duo's familiar features appeared.

And, in the background, there was another person there, typing on what looked to be a laptop.  Looking closer, Via recognized the lean, muscular figure of Heero Yuy.  She frowned.  Heero and Duo, as far as the history books had told, were never great friends.  What was going on?

"March nineteenth, after colony 197.  It's me again, of course, and I brought along a guest!"  With that, Duo waved his hand towards Heero, who shifted his gaze towards Duo for only a moment before turning back to his computer screen.  "He doesn't feel like talking right now, I'm afraid."  Duo grinned.  "He's a bit nervous about his wedding tomorrow."

Via's eyes widened in surprise.  According to the history books, Heero had never married or had children.  She frowned, her eyebrows knitting together, and leaned closer to the image.  Now this was getting interesting.

"Shut up, Maxwell," Heero hissed, frowning.  Via smiled.  This was probably the first time she had heard Heero's voice and it was much different from the way she had imagined it.

"Oh!  The evil last name!" Duo laughed and Via frowned.  She did share that last name, after all.  "Oh well.  Poor Relena will be so surprised at the rude, obsessive, ingrate she is marrying!"  Heero threw a pillow at him.  "Sorry, I forgot!  She's used to it by now!"

Duo howled with laughter as Heero continued to attack him with all the objects within his reach, including his laptop, which hit Duo square on the head.  "OW!"  Heero's only response was to pick up his laptop and continue typing.

"And let that be a lesson to you folks," Duo said, grinning into the camera as he rubbed the bump on his head.  "Never mess with a nervous bridegroom the day before his wedding." Heero glared at the braided boy but said nothing.  Via smiled, noting once again just how much she looked like her ancestor and wondering how something as important as Heero and Relena's wedding had escaped the history books.

Ten disks later, Via was riveted.  She had always thought Duo's journals were interesting, but these new disks were amazing!  They announced Heero and Duo's friendship, which came as a surprise to Via, as she had always considered the two of them as friendly enemies, and spoke of Relena's last moment business matter, delaying the wedding.  The disks seemed to go on forever!   She hadn't stopped her research for anything.  Not food, not water, not even when her uncle was threatening to beat her to a pulp. Typical uncle behavior, according to Via.  Finally, she had reached the last disk.  Took long enough, she thought, as her stomach was beginning to cramp for lack of food.  She pressed against her stomach with one hand and started to close the disk player with the other.  She stopped suddenly, seeing Heero's image come on the screen.

Via frowned.  She sat back down, wondering why an extra image was playing.  It looked as though the story she had just heard had been recorded years before this, because Heero now looked to be around twenty-five years old.  He looked different now and he there wasn't a hint of a smile on his face.  Something in his eyes spoke of a sadness she had never seen before, and in the background she could see nothing but a cracked wall.  Heero began to speak.

"It won't be long now," he said with a trace of sorrow in his voice.  "The remaining OZ troops were skillful and they knew where to find us.  Duo saved this last bit of disk space for any final thoughts we might have, and now seems to be the time to use it.  We were all captured and sealed down here.  All five of us, the Gundam pilots.  I'm the last one left.  Quatre was the first to die, with earnest wishes for us to tell his family about his fate if we ever got out.  His wife and his children will be very sad, I think. Trowa went soon after.  He had no family and no message, except to tell Catherine he loves her. Then Wufei.  He was noble in the end, at least.  We had only one air hole to breathe through to keep us from suffocating, and he let Duo and I have it.  He said he had no family and didn't need it.  He wants to join his deceased ancestors with honor.  Wufei was like that, I suppose.  I told him I was in the same position, but Wufei wouldn't hear of it.

"Then Duo told me about my son.  Hn.  My legacy lives on, but only through a misbegotten son..." Heero gave a brief laugh.  "I got lonely without Relena, I guess.  Turned to other means of entertainment.  Seems like everyone knew about my son by Kit Grien except me.  Even Wufei laughed at me when I said I had no family to live for.  After Wufei died, Duo turned into a rock.  His heart was encased in a sheet of ice not even I could penetrate.  He lasted for a long time before he committed suicide.  Couldn't bear the strain, I guess.  So now I'm left.  If anyone ever gets this disk, give it to his wife.  Hilde would like to have it."  Heero smiled distantly.  "I wrote all over this box, to keep my mind off things, but she won't care."  Heero coughed, a harsh and strangled sound in this dank tomb.  "Hn... Hilde's going to have his child, and he didn't even live to see it.  Tell everyone we love them."  Heero turned away for a second and took a deep breath from a tiny hole in the wall.  "My air is going to run out soon.  Farewell."  With a wave of his hand, the screen turned black.

Via swallowed hard.  Was this for real?  Or just another one of Duo's pranks?  It looked real and Heero had seemed so sad, as if he had lost all hope.  She almost laughed when she realized she wasn't hungry anymore.  With a sigh, she turned back towards the disk.  Was this how the Gundam pilots had met their fate?  She would never know, perhaps.

Making her way to the kitchen, she noticed her history book lying on the counter.  She frowned, trying to figure out when she had put it there, then flipped it open to the pages describing the Gundam pilots.  She took an apple out of the fridge and bit into it, enjoying the bitter juice running down her chin, and scanned the chapter.  A whole section was dedicated to the lives of the pilots before the war, then three were written entirely of the war.  A tiny section at the end of the chapter spoke of their lives after the war, but nothing was written of when and how they died.

She threw her half-eaten apple at the wall, not even caring when she heard the sickening splatter of mutilated fruit.  She let out a disgruntled shriek, hitting her fist against the table.  "Why doesn't this stupid book _tell me anything?" she mumbled to herself.  A knock on the glass kitchen door answered her._

Billy grinned at her.  "Hey, Via, Sari and I dug a huge pit in the woods!  About twice as tall as we are!  C'mon, we're going to try to catch Sari's little brother in it and see how long it takes him to get out!"

Via looked at him in disbelief.  Then she turned away and, without even looking back at Billy, went back to the disks.

**--to be continued--**


	2. Chapter Two

Forever

**PART TWO:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

The next day was Monday.  Via, for the first time since elementary school, arrived to school on time and entered the classroom as soon as the doors opened.  Not even stopping by her first period class to drop off her book bag or talk to her friends, who gathered there every morning, she made her way to Mr. Aristo's history class.  She threw open the door, shocking both Mr. Aristo himself and the single student who stood by his desk.

"Mr. Aristo!  I need to ask you something!" Via said, pushing past the shocked boy standing there.

"Miss Via!  One would think you would be more polite and wait your turn!" Mr. Aristo cried, glancing meaningfully at the boy.  "But now that you are here, I would like to introduce you to Mister Grien, our new student.  He will be joining our history class."

"Uh... hi.  Great.  Pleased to meet you.  Now can I talk to you, Mr. Aristo?" Via said hurriedly, rushing through her introductions.

Mr. Aristo sighed.  "Very well.  Quickly, please."  The new student coughed and gestured towards the door.

"Perhaps I should go outside…?"

"No, Mister Grien, that's quite all right.  Miss Via will not take long."

"Mr. Aristo, how did the Gundam pilots die?"

"Excuse me?" Mr. Aristo stared at her in disbelief.  "Does it not say how in your history book, Miss Via?"

"No.  That's why I want to know.  I saw a disk yesterday that really got under my skin and I want to know how they died.  And when."

"Well, Miss Via, I don't know for sure.  According to many historical documents and papers, the pilots died of old age. These documents were made by unknown sources, however, and may not be entirely accurate.  After they reached thirty or so, the pilots just seemed to disappear.  Does that answer your question, Miss Via?"

Via sighed and knitted her hands together in an exasperated manner.  "Not really, but thanks.  It was really getting to me."  She glanced up to see that the Grien boy was still there, listening to their conversation.  She frowned, trying to recall where she had heard this name before.

Mr. Aristo smiled at her.  "Miss Via, if you would be so kind, will you be Mister Grien's guide?  As a new student, it is my job to assign him a guide and you seem to be a likely candidate."

Via stared, but nodded.  "Sure."  She turned to the boy.  "What do you have first period today?" she asked, leading him out of the room.

"Math," he replied in a hoarse voice that was almost familiar.  He brushed his dark hair away from his blue eyes and smiled.  

"Great, me too!" The first bell rang.  "Well, shall we be going?"  Still smiling, the two turned towards the math room.

After the final bell rang and all the students were seated at their assigned desks, the teacher, Mrs. Mosli, began to take roll.  When she reached the Grien boy's name, she looked up.  "Subduar Grien?"

"Chance, please.  Just call me Chance," the dark haired boy replied with an angelic smile.  He could really melt a few girls' hearts with a smile like that, if he wanted.  One of the girls in the back must have agreed with her, because she gave a little squeal and stared with longing at him.  Via hoped he never turned that smile on her.  She had enough to worry about without moping over a broken heart.  

The math lesson continued.  Many of the girls in the class spent the entire time glancing bashfully Chance's way and blushing when he looked their way.  Via was surprised to find that Chance seemed almost as embarrassed as they did, and looked tentatively at his desk whenever he caught someone's eye.  Except hers.  He glanced Via's way often, in an almost confused manner, as if trying to figure out where he had seen her before.  She couldn't blame him; she was doing the same thing.  He seemed so familiar...

It seemed as though hours had passed before the bell rang again, signaling the end of first period and the beginning of the school's twenty-minute break.  Signaling to Chance, she led him to the front hall, where her friends were waiting for her.  

Via was almost the leader of the group, and many of the other people tended to agree with any decisions she made with amazing consistency.  But now, as she introduced Chance, many smiled warily his way, unsure that his presence here was a good thing.  He smiled back cautiously, averting his eyes.  He seemed relieved when the break was over and it was time to go to second period, which was Astronomy for both of them.  Chance was very enthusiastic in this class, giving the right answer to many of the questions the teacher, Mr. Linaso, asked and always getting praise and surprised looks from the latter.  He seemed to be an avid science whiz, and Via made a mental note to ask him to tutor her, as she was barely getting a passing mark.  Her habit of falling asleep every time the instructor started to speak was only one reason.

Her eyelids were getting heavier, just about to close and let her into deep slumber, when Billy poked her in the square of her back.  She gave a little squeak and received a glare from Mr. Linaso, who went back to his explanation on star clusters in deep space.  Billy tossed a folded up sheet of paper onto her desk and went back to taking his diligent notes.  Quietly unfolding the note, she read with great interest. Billy's infrequent notes offered everything from humor to disconsolation and Via always awaited more.  This one posed a different topic.

"What's up?  Why didn't you come to the pit with us?" he wrote.  "Has your uncle been beating up on you again?"

Via smiled at his concern and replied, writing in her tiny cursive underneath Billy's scrawling letters.  "No.  Just looking at Duo's disks.  Some disturbing stuff in there.  I guess it got to me.  Sorry.  And don't talk about my uncle like that."  She tossed the note back and received it again a moment later.

"Alright, if you say so.  Only you've looked at those disks millions of times!  What's so different about them now?  Oh, and while I'm on the subject of oddities, what is with you and this Chance guy?  You like him?"

"Chance is nice, I guess.  I just get the feeling I've seen him before.  It's weird."

"I'll say.  He looks a lot like Heero's picture in the text book, except he smiles," Billy wrote.  When Via read this last part she gasped.  That was it!  Grien was the last name of Heero's lover!  Chance was a descendant of Heero Yuy!

Mr. Linaso looked at her in surprise.  "Miss Via, is something wrong?"  There was true concern in his face, and Via almost felt bad that she had slept in this class so often.  He really was nice, for a teacher.

"Uh... no sir.  Just a cramp.  Sorry."

Mr. Linaso nodded.  "Very well.  If you wish, you may go to the nurse and get medication.  But please do not disrupt this class."

"Yes, sir.  I'll be going now."  Via, her cheeks red, stepped out to the hallway.  When the door closed behind her, she looked down the hall to check for approaching teachers before letting out a loud cheer.  When this was done, she made her way to the nurse for an aspirin.

After her brief encounter with the nurse, and after getting her stomach back in order after taking an aspirin on an empty stomach, she sat back down in Mr. Linaso's astronomy class.  Billy laughed silently as she walked back in, staggering due to her badly taken aspirin.  Chance smiled at her, and she could tell he was still wondering why he seemed to know her.

Soon after her arrival, the bell rang again, and the students ran to their next class.  Chance waited patiently for Via to gather together her things and stand up without setting off her stomach again.  They walked silently to their next class, English.  This was one of the few classes Via excelled at, and Chance seemed to be a fairly good English student as well.  After an hour of nouns, sentence structure, and verbs, Via felt enough like herself to call out and make funny remarks, all of which received admiring laughter from multiple students, and often from the teacher, Ms. Roberi, as well.

Via found it unusual that Chance had all the same classes as she did, and wasn't at all surprised when the bell rang and the two set off for the gym.  Glad that her stomach wasn't bothering her anymore, Via was anxious to start their new unit, which consisted of playing basketball every day.  Probably, in Via's opinion, the best sport in existence.  She was very good at it, with fantastic hand-eye coordination and an element of speed that couldn't be beat.  Her friends often joked around that she had inherited these skills from her Gundam-flying ancestor. Sometimes she wondered if they were right and his looks were not all she had inherited.

She changed into her gym uniform just in time to hear the whistle blow.  Mrs. Torres, who was a new coach this year, glanced Via's way, smiling.  Via was a well-known basketball star, and Mrs. Torres was anxious to see her in action.  Four person teams were picked.  Though it was common for girls to have only girls on their team and guys to have strictly guys, all the girls seemed to flock around Chance, and the guys around Via.  Mrs. Torres smiled again, knowing that attraction of the opposite sex played a large part in this.  This was true.  Via was very beautiful, in an exotic way, and Chance was extremely handsome, though in an almost subtle and prodigious manner.  

The final result was to be expected.  Nervous around all the admiring women, Chance had teamed up with the one girl who didn't seem to have a hopeless crush, Via, and her little collection of friends, including Siri and Billy, followed.  There were a total of twenty teams, and each had to think up an original name.  After much consideration, it was Chance who thought one up.

"How about the Reapers?"

Via laughed.  "Another name for Shinigami, right?  Sounds good.  What do you guys think?"

Billy and Siri smiled.  It was Siri who replied.  "Appropriate.  Very much so."  She looked at Chance.  "That's the American name for Shinigami.  Are you American, Chance?"

Chance smiled his angel smile.  "I suppose you could say that I grew up there.  I'm actually of Japanese descent."  That made sense, if Via was right about his ancestry. 

"So the Reapers it is!" Via cried joyfully.  Mrs. Torres looked their way and wrote down their team name.  Then the game began.  The first teams to play were the Reapers and the Warriors, a team of guys who had all been intent on "getting to know Via a little bit better."  The whistle blew, and the game started.  Via and a boy named Tyler checked off, putting the ball in Via's court.  The game played well, and the Reapers were an easy win.  Via, it seemed, was not the only good player on the team.  Billy and Siri were both fair players, but Chance was nearly as good as Via.  His aim and timing were impeccable, but he was a bit slow and had trouble trying to outrun the opposing team.

Sweating and tired, both teams were off the court when the whistle rang and retired to the showers.  Cleaned up and redressed in their school clothes, they met back in the gym just in time for the bell.  Chance and Via said their good-byes to Billy and Siri and went to their next class.  

Four classes and a lunch period later, Via and Chance were ready for Mr. Aristo's history class.  Via, prepared for yet another lecture about the Endless Waltz, was extremely unenthusiastic, and Chance was confused as to why.  She tried to explain that this stuff was old news, but he only smiled his angelic smile and kept walking to class.

Via, wishing to whatever god was watching over her that she wouldn't fall for this guy, followed.  Mr. Aristo smiled as they walked in, but said nothing.  Sitting in her seat, Via prepared for another long hour of history.

To the surprise of both herself and everyone else, Via listened to the lecture with apt attention, trying to find a clue as to the death of the five Gundam pilots.  Her only outburst occurred about twenty minutes before the end of class, when she began laughing at the textbook's description of Duo and Heero's first meeting.

"Is something funny, Miss Via?"

"Only this!  To think that Heero cared about Relena is insane!  And Duo, rescuing him from certain death?  Absurd!"

"Perhaps you know more about it, Miss Via?"

"I do!  And I'll explain it.  Relena was being obsessive, as usual, and amazed that the pilot of Wing was just fifteen, the same age as her.  She followed Heero to a dock where his latest mission was to take place and he gave her the usual death glare, sending her into shock, then pulled a gun on her, when Duo showed up.  Surprised to see two people in the middle of nowhere, he was sure that Heero was some sort of villain and began shooting at him.  Relena straightened him out, and he began talking about Wing, which he found at the bottom of the sea, and showed it to them.  He shot at Heero, not saved him!"

Billy laughed.  "Typical Via, rambling on until a subject makes no sense at all!"

Mr. Aristo smiled.  "Miss Via, is this from the journals, or is this your own interpretation?"

Via smiled.  "A bit of both.  Duo isn't a great story teller."

Siri grinned and poked Via in the side.  "Via Maxwell in action!"

Chance looked up from the doodles in his notebook, startled.  "Maxwell?  Via _Maxwell?"  He stared at her, obviously surprised, but seemed to be glad he had placed her.  Via laughed inwardly at the relief that was so plain on his face, but wondered if she had been so transparent when she placed him.  She hoped not.  Mr. Aristo smiled at him._

"Yes, Mister Chance.  Maxwell.  Descendant of Duo Maxwell, whom she refers to as her own personal plague."  The class roared at that.  Via grinned, then stood up and took a bow.  The students cheered her on, holding their sides with laughter.

By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, no work had been done, as everyone, including Mr. Aristo, was laughing too hard to continue.  Except Chance, who seemed thoughtful, and Via, who couldn't find the humor in this situation.

**--to be continued--**


	3. Chapter Three

Forever

**PART THREE:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

                                                                ***********

Via was crouched over the final disk yet again.  Nothing, not even her uncle's threats, moved her, and she knew she had a ton of homework to do.  Studying the scene before her intently, Via frowned at the image of Heero Yuy.  From what she had seen before, he was acting extremely out of character.  But, at closer examination, she saw that Chance shared a definite resemblance with the deceased pilot.  Especially with the eyes.  And the smile.  Through the bitterness of Heero's smile, Via could see the angelic quality Chance had in his.  Too bad Heero hadn't smiled more often.

There was a knock at the front door, and Via crossed the room towards it.  Pulling open the heavy door, she was surprised to see Chance standing on the other side.  "Chance!  What are you doing here?  How did you find this place?"

Chance smiled.  "I asked that Tyler guy where you lived.  He seemed rather reluctant to tell me."

Via smiled back.  "Probably with good reason.  Tyler is obsessive.  So, why are you here?"

Chance stopped smiling.  "I need to talk with you."

"Alright."  From inside, Via could hear her uncle getting up.  "But not here.  You don't want to cross my uncle.  He doesn't like many people."

"I'll remember that."  He led her outside.  "Are you really the descendant of Duo Maxwell?"

"So far as I know.  Are you really the descendant of Heero Yuy?" she asked, studying his face for any signs of surprise.  It wasn't a long wait.

"How... how do you know about that?" he stared at her, baffled.

"I still have Duo's personal journals.  The last disk mentions a girl named Kit Grien and her son by Heero Yuy.  I assumed you were a relative.  Besides, you look like him." 

"My great-grandfather was Heero's son.  They named him Oden Grien, after his father."  He smiled at Via's confused look.  "Oden Lowe was Heero's real name."

"As Heero put it, his legacy lives on," Via said, smiling.  She decided not to tell him that he hadn't appeared happy about it.  Chance looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"So you know, then?  It's true about the disks?  They tell about their death?"

"So the disks say.  Then it was true?  Not just a joke?"

He looked ready to say something else but stopped himself.  "It's true.  All of it.  It was Kit Grien who found the pit, actually.  Only a few days after Heero died of suffocation and starvation, and the rats had only begun their feasting.  She found the disks and looked through a few, including the last one that had her give the disks to Hilde Maxwell."

"My great great grandmother.  So that's how we got the disks back.  I'd wondered about it."  Via thought this over.  "Do you know about the writing on the box?"

"Writing?  Can't say that I do.  My great-grandfather died just after I was born, and he was the only living member of my family who ever saw the box or the disks it contained."

"How old was he, when the pilots died?  Your great-grandfather?"

"About five.  He wouldn't have remembered the box even if he had lived to tell me about it."

Via decided to ask a question that had been bothering her for a little while now.  "Why did you want to know about the disks?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Via," Chance replied, shifting his eyes downward.

"I'll take your word for that."  She thought a moment.  "You look a lot like Heero did, you know.  Especially when he smiled.  He has that same smile you do."

"Really?  The only pictures I've seen of him make him look like he's about to face death itself."

"He usually was.  Come on, I'll show you," she lead him inside, quietly so as not to alert her uncle. "Look at this," she whispered, turning on one of the disks that featured Heero smiling.

It was the fifth disk in the new set she had found, and it showed him and the others at a park.  Trowa and Quatre were playing a duet in the background and Wufei was sitting in a tree, but Duo and Heero could be seen very clearly.  Heero was leaning against a tree, sleeping, and a smile identical to Chance's angelic one played upon his lips.  Duo sat at his feet, laughing with a little girl who was walking by.  The whole point of showing this, said Duo, was to prove that things were different after the war.  Chance looked at it, mystified and pleased.  

"Keep watching," Via said as gunfire broke out.  The little girl Duo had been talking to ran, and Heero sat up, frowning again.  A soldier from the old OZ army ran out, trying to protect his ideals.  Heero shot back, and his shot hit its mark.  The soldier dropped to the ground, blood spurting from his head.  Heero saw this, and, apparently to both the pilot's and Chance's surprise, began to cry.  Not heart-wrenching sobs, but silent tears that ran down his face in unfamiliar patterns.  Duo, concerned for his friend, quickly turned off the player.

Chance looked up at Via.  In a quiet voice, he began to speak.  "So that was my great great grandfather.  That was Heero Yuy.  The real Heero Yuy."

"So to speak.  In most cases, according to these disks, he was a lot like the books say.  Like a block of ice, immune to all emotion.  He changed a little bit after the war and began to regret taking as many lives as he did."

"The real Heero Yuy," he repeated sullenly, staring at the disk player.  Chance was silent for a little while.  Via was concerned that she had offended him but his next words dispelled that fear.  "Thank you.  For showing me."

"I was glad to."  She smiled.  "You're the first person I've shown the disks to.  It's a relief to be able to share stuff like this."

"Why don't you share them with your uncle?  Hasn't he seen the disks?"

"He doesn't even know they exist.  He's not a Maxwell.  The disks are mine.  They were left to me by my parents, before they died."  Via stared at her feet, trying not to let Chance see the tears in her eyes.  "He would destroy them if he knew."

Chance put a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to where he could see it.  "You've lived a painful life.  I think I knew that before.  It's in your face, in your eyes."

"Funny.  No one else notices."

Chance smiled.  "Maybe no one else understands."

Via returned the smile weakly, searching his face.  "Do you understand?"

"I think I do.  A little."  He stood up.  "I had better go.  I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure.  I'll meet you outside the math room, okay?"

"Right.  See you then," he said, walking out the door and leaving Via alone in the house, with her uncle.

**--to be continued--**


	4. Chapter Four

Forever

**PART FOUR:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

The next day was cold and rainy.  Via arrived at school soaking wet, but she was not alone in that matter.  The crowds were filled with sopping people, teachers and students alike, and Via had a little trouble getting to the math room.  By the time she reached her friends, she was almost dry.  She greeted her friends enthusiastically.

"Hey, Via's here!" Billy shouted, glad to see his friend.

Chance, who stood shyly by the wall, greeted her with a smile and a slight wave.  Via nodded her head in a silent reply.  She wanted to talk to him about the disks, but a crowd of her friends blocked her path.  It wasn't until history class that they had the chance to talk.  For a change, Via did not sit in her usual seat, located next to Billy and Siri, but instead sat next to Chance, in the back of the room.  He smiled at her solemnly, the angel smile she had come to love, but said nothing.  Via was no longer worried about falling in love with Chance.  She knew deep in her heart that it was too late for that anyway.

Ignoring Mr. Aristo's pleas for silence, they began to discuss the pilots.  As they sat far in the back of the room, they could go undisturbed for the most part.  Though Via found it difficult to ignore the glares Billy and Siri threw her way.

Chance laughed softly at her reference to the pilots as personal plagues, but was silenced by a quick look from Mr. Aristo, who, though he was striving to keep his class in order, was obviously glad the two were getting along.  Via found herself wondering if he had placed the two of them together on purpose.

Billy threw a piece of paper her way, and she caught it, also catching a displeased look from Mr. Aristo.  She smiled apologetically at him, and giggled wildly.  Chance shook his head and waited for her to calm down.  After a few minutes more, she opened the paper. 

Two notes from Billy in two days?  This must be a record of some sort, she thought.  Then she saw what was written.  Or, rather, drawn.

As young children, both Billy and Via had been fond of the classic story, Treasure Island.  Billy had particularly liked the idea of the black spot, a pirate's death sentence, and the two friends had decided to make a sort of symbol of their own, in case they ever felt betrayed by the other.  They had never used it, as it was only to be used in extreme situations, but the symbol was fresh in her memory.

It was this symbol, that of a bloody scythe, that Billy had given her.  Chance looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"A scythe?" he asked in a whisper.  She nodded and looked over at Billy, who had an icy glare in his eyes.  Via shivered and took out a fresh sheet of paper from her binder.

In a trembling hand, she drew a small question mark.  Folding the paper, she threw it over to Billy when Mr. Aristo turned his back.  Chance frowned at her, but said nothing.  She caught the paper Billy threw back at her.  Unfolding it nervously, she looked with timorous feelings.  

"Is it some kind of sick joke, that you suddenly ignore your life long friends for a guy you just met?  Or is it that you don't care to chat with us anymore?  Via, you've been acting weird for the past three days!  Make up your mind; are you going to be back to normal soon?"

"Look, I'm sorry.  I've had things on my mind.  If it makes you feel better, I'll start wise cracking and stuff again."

"It's not just that," this was Siri's handwriting now.  "We're worried about you.  Is something up with your uncle?"

"What would be up with my uncle?"  There was a pause as Billy and Siri read the note, then exchanged glances.  Via looked away, then returned her gaze to her friends in time to see them toss the note her way.

Chance grabbed the note in midair as Mr. Aristo was about to turn back to face the class.  "Saving you from a detention," he told Via, handing it to her.

"Thanks."  She unfolded the note, but Siri and Billy had not felt the need to reply.  So she returned her conversation with Chance.  "Want to come over to see more of the disks after school?"

Chance shrugged.  "Might as well.  Could be educational."  He gave her a sideways glance.  "What were your parents like?"  He winced as he saw Via pull away.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to trouble you all over again.  But I really would like to know.  Because I have a feeling that we've met before, and if I can get an idea of what your parents were like, I might find answers."

Via swallowed.  "After school.  I'll tell you then."  Chance nodded, and Via folded her arms on the desk and lay her head down.  Painful memories were being resurrected.  She felt a tap on her shoulder and jerked her head up.

It was Mr. Aristo.  "Miss Via, is something wrong?"  He looked concerned, but in the teacherly way that Via couldn't stand.  "Please, listen to the lesson."

"Fine."  Via gave Mr. Aristo a glare that even Heero Yuy may have found intimidating.  Mr. Aristo only blinked.

Mr. Aristo turned back to the blackboard.  "As I was saying..."  And so he returned to the lecture.  Via put her head back down on her desk, and noticed with a small smile that Chance was not taking notes.  Was her bad influence rubbing off on him already? 

After school, Via and Chance walked out together.  Via slung her bag over her shoulder, and Chance laughed good-naturedly as half the contents spilled out.  Via rolled her eyes as she bent to pick it all up, but stopped when an unfamiliar hand started to do it for her.  She looked at Chance, who was staring at this stranger in a disbelief that clearly showed his shock and hurt in his heart.  She looked again at the stranger.  

He was tall, and stately, Via noticed right away.  As well as about ten years older and incredibly handsome.  His long black hair fell into his brown eyes, and he brushed it away with a flick of his hand.  Then he turned to Chance, absently handing Via's books back to her.  She slipped them into her bag, still staring.

The stranger wore a pair of black pants of a silky material, and a long black over shirt.  He looked rich, or at least noble.  Yet Chance was sneering at the man with contempt.  Via realized that this was the first time she had truly seen Chance angry.  He looked quite impressive, much like his famous piloting ancestor.

The stranger held his head high and spoke to Chance in an odd language that Via had never heard before.  The syllables were quickly spoken and ran together with the grace of one who was born speaking a language such as this one.  Chance replied in kind, though his words were not quite as fluid.

Via stood watching them in amazement.  When Chance saw her baffled face, he smiled.  "Via, this is my friend, Khans.  Khans is a distant descendant of Wufei's."

Khans smirked and said something in the strange language.  Chance smiled.  "As he puts it, a very distant descendant."

Via was confused.  "What dialect, in the name of Shinigami, are you speaking?!" she cried.  Chance and Khans both smiled, though Chance's grin was much wider.

"In the name of Shinigami, Via?" Chance asked, still smiling.  Via shrugged, so Chance continued.  "It's an ancient language that very few speak now.  It used to be called Airant.  It is almost Khans' native tongue, as his grandparents taught him to speak it before they taught him any other language."

"Oh."  Via scratched her head.  "And I suppose it's a pleasure to meet you, Khans."

Khans gave her a wide smile.  "Indeed.  And it is one for you, as well," he said in slow English.  His words were heavily accented, and it took Via quite some time to decipher them properly.  She was fairly sure that she would be able to understand him without a problem before too long.

She looked at Chance, who was pursing his lips in distaste, then back at elegant Khans, then finally returned her gaze to her friend.  Chance's blue eyes were flashing with what Via assumed was anger, and his fists were clenched hard enough to turn his knuckles white.  Via couldn't help but wonder what had upset her friend.  Surely it couldn't be Khans; the two of them seemed to get along well enough.

Chance cleared his throat when he saw Via looking at him.  "Let's go.  Via, you wanted to show me some of the disks?"

"Yes.  Khans, you're welcome to come along, if you like.  It seems like us Gundam progeny should stick together.  For a little while, at least."

Khans hesitated, then nodded.  "Very well.  I will join you."  His words were just as muddy as before, but Via found that, by separating the syllables just a bit and un-stressing his vowels, the words were nearly as clear and audible as her own.

Via led the way to her home, which wasn't all that far, only about twenty minutes, walking.  It was a lovely walk, too, up until a point.  The woods and the other scenic views made for wonderful sightseeing, and Khans seemed to be enjoying the exercise.  Via decided that she would have to ask Chance what the deal was with Khans.  But not now.  Oh no, not now.  At the moment, Via's only concerns were whether or not her uncle was home and what was making Chance act so much like his heroic ancestor.

Via let Khans fall pretty far behind her, then fell back so that her steps were in time with Chance's.  She grabbed his arm and leaned towards him.  "What's up with you?" she hissed in his ear.  Chance shook his arm out of her grasp.

"Don't ask."

"I already did."  The girl frowned.  "Tell me what's going on.  Something's bugging you.  Is it Khans?  I don't know why it would be.  He seems perfectly nice to me, even if he is one of Wufei's ancestors.  He's not as stiff and formal as Wufei either, and that's a plus on my list."  Via thought a moment, then smiled.  "In fact, that's a definite plus.  He isn't so prejudiced, either.  That's good.  And he's not all that bad looking.  Yet another point there."  She quickly erased the dreamy look from her face.  "I don't think he acts like Wufei at all."

Chance smiled at her.  "You talk too much."  Then he frowned.  "That's the problem, though.  That he's not like Wufei Chang.  Wufei, from what I have heard, was at least loyal and had a sense of right and wrong.  Khans, though... well, as you said, he doesn't act like Wufei at all."  He lowered his voice.  "I don't want you to-"

He was interrupted, though, by the loud roar of an engine.  Via looked around, startled.  The road to her home was hidden, and it was very rare that anyone passed by it.  And, like her ancestor, she was quite good with machinery, and could usually tell what a motor was from just by hearing it hum.  And, as soon as she realized what this one was, she paused.  It was just a regular car, but it was the direction it was coming from that surprised her.

It was coming from her house.

Considering her uncle didn't own a car, and, even if he had, he never left the house, and the fact that the walkway up to her home was almost impenetrable, the idea of any car leaving from her home was nearly unthinkable.  Via glanced over her shoulder at Khans, who was still surveying the scenic path, unaware that Via and Chance had stopped.  Via felt her heart jump to her throat.

Chance pursed his lips.  "I take it this is not good."

She nodded.  "We should probably hide and to wait to see what happens."

"Fine by me," Chance replied softly, still listening for the approaching car.  This wasn't good at all, and every move Chance made seemed to prove that he knew it.  "Where should we go to hide?"

"The trees over there are a wonderful place to disguise one's presence," a voice piped up from behind them.  Via and Chance jumped and whirled around to find Khans standing nearby.  Via swore loquaciously.

"Don't do that!  You about scared the life out of me!" Via raged, trying to hard to keep her voice lowered.  She hated to be caught off guard like that!

"Very well."  Khans paused.  "The vehicle is approaching.  Perhaps we should depart for the trees now?"

Chance nodded.  "Good idea. Come on, Via."  He took her arm in a firm grasp and began to pull her to the side of the road.  She shook him off roughly and bolted to the bushes on her own.  Khans and Chance were quick to follow.

Via squatted in the dust, only caring a little that her blue jeans were getting mussed with the ground's excessive wastes.  Her shirt threatened to pull out of its place, tucked into her jeans.  She pulled on the hem, almost habitually.  Chance was beside her, his shorts, which Via considered insane to be wearing in this weather, also getting dusty.  He didn't seem to mind, though.

Khans was nowhere to be found.

Via tugged on Chance's shirtsleeve and gestured around them.  Chance smiled and pointed up, to the tree branches above them.  Via smiled.  Perhaps he was not so unlike Wufei after all.  From what she knew, Wufei had always been perfectly at home in a tree.

The car slowly came into view.  It had been driving very slowly, as the path to the house was not cleared of fallen tree branches and bushes; Via had not seen the point in clearing it, as no one bothered to drive down it.  Via squinted so that she could see the driver of the car through the shaded windows.  Curiously enough, Via thought she recognized him.  But that was impossible, wasn't it....?

The car quickened its speed and pulled away, far out of view as it turned into the main highway.  Via and Chance, exchanging glances, waited a bit longer before coming out of their spot in the bushes, trees and dust.  Via could tell that Chance had recognized the driver just as well as she, and that he, too, did not believe it possible.

What, after all, would Mr. Aristo want with Via's uncle?

**--to be continued--**


	5. Chapter Five

Forever

**PART FIVE:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

Back at Via's home, the three Gundam descendants were gathered around the disk player, the unusual events from earlier still safely tucked away in their minds, watching closely as Duo began to blabber on and on about ceilings.  He seemed to believe that ceilings could tell a lot about a person, although every single ceiling in the home he and the other Gundam pilots were sharing at the time was exactly the same, despite who was rooming where.

Khans and Chance gave Via odd looks.                       

"What?"

"He's your descendant, remember," Chance said with a small smile and a chuckle.  Via cursed mildly and stuck out her tongue at the boy who looked like Heero Yuy.  Coincidentally, Duo did the same thing on screen to the boy who actually was Heero Yuy, who was busily hacking into the secret files of an OZ database.  

Via groaned.  "I think I watch these way too often."

Chance laughed, making Via grin.  Chance had a great laugh, like big bells were ringing.  It made Via wish she could hear Heero laughing on the disks, just to see if the two titters were anything alike.  The most Heero had ever done was smile, and even that was a rare event.  Duo had thought so, anyway, and Via had been given the impression that he was right.

Khans was frowning, watching the screen with a look of intense concentration plastered quite visibly on his face.  "He looks very much like you."

"Don't I know it?" Via answered, rolling her eyes.  "I've had to live with that fact my entire life, thanks.  People used to go up to me and ask why I wasn't braiding my hair anymore and if I was still harboring Deathscythe in my back pocket."

Chance smiled.  "I can just imagine how you replied."

"Something along the lines of 'screw you' and 'get the hell out of my face before I set Shinigami on your ass,'" Duo's look-alike told him quite solemnly, a look which lasted only seconds before her face broke into her usual wide grin.

Khans asked something, but it was in the language he and Chance called Airant, so Via couldn't understand a word of what he was saying.  Chance followed along carefully, then grinned widely, a look that was almost alien on his descendant's face, and nodded cheerfully.  He spared a glance at Via, then listened to Khan's babble a little while longer.  Then he burst out laughing, touching a hand to his forehead.

Via, slightly red in the face and only a little pissed off, glared at the two of them.  "Stop it," she hissed, glowering so that her face became quite serious.  "If my uncle hears you, I won't be the only one being punished for it."

That shut Chance up very quickly.  He knew practically nothing about Via's uncle, except the little that Via had told him, including that he was quick to his fists.  Khans gave both Chance and Via an odd look, then turned back to the disks.  He smirked as Wufei walked onto the screen, a scowl on his face and a furrowed brow gracing his countenance.

Via said his words along with him.  "Maxwell, what in the name of Nataku's justice did you do with my socks?"

Chance couldn't help himself and burst again into peals of laughter.  Via rose an eyebrow.  It wasn't _that funny.  Khans smirked._

"Perhaps you are right.  You do seem to know this very well."  He looked at Chance.  "Quiet, boy."

That shut Chance up quickly.  "Boy?  Is that why the others sent you out to keep an eye on me?  Because they think my age is going to keep me from doing this right?"  Khans frowned and something in Airant.  Chance shook his head emphatically and Via couldn't help but note that Chance was quite a drama queen.  Or king, whatever.  "No, I'm not about to speak in that infernal tongue.  Via has a right to know about us and what we're doing, Khans!  She's practically one of us!"

"To know what?"

Khans frowned, glaring at Chance.  "Do you see what you've done now?"

"No."  Chance crossed his arms over his chest.  "I hate having to keep secrets from her, Khans.  She's no different from the rest of us.  In fact, she's a lot better than all of us because she has no idea what we need from her."

"Perhaps, except that her--" Khans started, then glanced over at Via and switched back to Airant.  Via frowned.  It sounded suspiciously as though he was saying "Miasma yoyo zealot zizz zoot me," but she had no way of being sure.

Chance bowed his head, his anger made painfully obvious in his venomous voice and the steely glare in his eyes, directed thankfully at Khans and not Via herself.  "I'm going to tell her."  The disk in front of them all sputtered and came to an ending and the screen turned into a blank gray shield of static.  "Via, we need your help.  We broke a Gundam."

Via blinked and cocked her head to the side, eyes widening despite herself with wonder and bafflement.  "You need my help to do what?"

Chance sighed, his eyes still steely with frustration and anger, looking disturbingly more like his famous ancestor than Via had ever seen him.  "Our families have all been keeping watch over the colonies and Earth for years.  And the enemies have suits of their own, so we have been holding them off for an indefinable length of time.  However, on our last battle one of the ancient suits was damaged."

"You talk like a freaking text book," Via mumbled.  "Repeat all that in plain language and start from the beginning."

Chance gave her a small smile.  "Sorry.  I forget sometimes that not everyone was born into all the knowledge."  He coughed nervously.  "The Gundams were never actually destroyed.  Our ancestors all knew that peace was only an idea and that it wouldn't last very long if it wasn't protected, so they spread a rumor that convinced everyone that the Gundams had been done away with.  That way the idea of peace wouldn't be threatened.  Well, not by them and their suits in any case.  Peace itself was a different matter.  So our families have all been keeping the Gundams a secret and have been watching for any threats to the order of peace.  Over the years there have been a number of attacks, but never have any been as strong as the threat we face now.  The attacks come in greater numbers, and they are more fierce than any we have ever faced.  We need you to help us protect the people."

"But the Preventers…"

Khans shook his head at Via's obvious surprise- and confusion.  "The Preventers were corrupt even from the beginning and did little to support Miss Peacecraft's ideals of total pacifism," he explained.  "The five pilots knew this and arranged to keep the Gundams safe and hidden- in case they were ever needed again.  They have been used often enough and descendents of their families, our ancestors, have all been thoroughly trained to pilot them and protect the colonies and Earth.  Although we have all the knowledge we need to pilot these suits, we know nothing when it comes to repairing major damages.  Small things are easy enough to handle, but most everything else goes beyond our knowledge.  We have often been told by our parents and grandparents that Duo Maxwell kept disks that were supposed to keep copies of the Gundam blue prints and repair instructions for things even as delicate as the Zero System.  We need those disks now."

"Let me get this straight.  You want me to give you the disks so you can pull out a users manual and kill people?"

Chance hesitated, then nodded.  "Something like that."

Via snorted.  "You've got to be kidding.  You want me to go against everything I've ever been taught and help you murder innocent people?"

"They are not innocent people," Khans said harshly.  "These people have been trying to destroy the Earth since the Earth Sphere Unified Nations began."

"I don't think so.  My great-granddaddy's disks are hands-off."

Khans frowned.  "Via, it is for the good of the people.  The public good."

"The people you're trying to protect would like to know that you've all been lying to them, I think.  And that the pacifism we've all been raised to believe in is all a fib."

"Via, we need the disks!  It's very important, OZ is back and they've got inside forces.  I think that's what Mr. Aristo was doing here," Chance pleaded.  "Please, we need them now."

A loud, booming voice thundered from upstairs.  "Girl, what the fuck is going on down there?  Who the hell are you talking to?"

Via swore.  "You woke up my uncle.  You'll be in deep if you don't get out of here quick," she hissed at the two boys.  "No one, Sir!  I.. I've got the television on!"  She turned her back on Chance and Khans and started towards the stairs.  "I'll turn it off now, Sir.  I'm really sorry I bothered you."

"Damn straight you are!  You better be; I'm going to have to come down there and teach you a lesson!"

As the sound of thundering footsteps reached Via's ears, she rushed back to the living room and turned to Chance and Khans in order to warn them to leave, but they had gone.  Through the window, by the looks of the curtain flapping in the breeze.  She shut it with a bang as her uncle entered the room.  He was a big, hulking man who looked nothing like Via, and the very sight of him made Via cower against the wall as a sudden panic gripped her heart.

It wasn't until after her uncle had "taught her a lesson" with all the fury his fists could muster that she realized her disks had disappeared with Khans and Chance.  Lying bruised and bloody against the wall, limbs sprawled inelegantly on the floor, she smiled.  They had no idea who they were dealing with.

"Let the games begin," she whispered through her already swollen, bloody lip.  "Let the games begin."

**--to be continued--**


	6. Chapter Six

Forever

**PART SIX:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

There were quite a few gasps the next morning as Via entered the school with a black eye and a dark purple bruise covering nearly half of her face. Via continued to smile and most everyone she passed smiled back.  When she saw Billy amidst the mob of her friends he winced and touched his own cheek in sympathy.

"Your uncle again"

Via shrugged and nodded.  "Chance came over and he accidentally woke up my uncle.  We were looking at the disks and we kind of had some sort of argument about one of them and the talking got my uncle's attention."

Billy gave a small half-smile.  "Did he catch Chance?"

She shook her head.  "He climbed out the window."

"And left you to take all the blame," Billy said with a frown.  "Some friend.  I told you he wasn't any good.  If it had been me or Siri, we would have gotten in just as much trouble as you.  And we'd have stuck around to at least get a bruise or two."

Via laughed, remembering the many occasions she'd been caught with her friends over when she was younger.  Billy and Siri had learned their lesson since, and it was very rare that they came over anymore.  "You would _not have stayed.  Sure, you would have used the door, but you would be gone just as quick as he was."_

"Maybe, but maybe not.  You never know."

They laughed, and then there was a long pause before Via went on.  "He took my disks."

"Your uncle?"

"No."  Via pulled Billy towards her math class where she could sit down- she was rather sore from yesterday.  "Chance."

"Oh."  Billy frowned.  "Why?"

Via thought about telling Billy everything that Chance and Khans had told her but quickly decided against it.  So she shrugged.  "I don't know.  Where's Siri?"

"Orthodontist.  She'll be in late again."  The bell rang and Billy looked up at the clock with a look of panic spreading across his face.  "Gah!  I'm late!  See you later, Via!"  With a final wave of his hand, Billy disappeared out of the door.  Via sighed and settled down for another boring math class.  She was only halfway surprised when Chance didn't show up for roll.

Hours later, Via entered Mr. Aristo's classroom.  The aged teacher took in the bruising on Via's face with a frown, but he said nothing, as all good teachers should.  When the class had all gathered, he cleared his throat, looked around, and opened his grade book.

"Pop quiz!"  There was a collective groan as everyone pulled out pens and pencils.  Mr. Aristo's pop quizzes weren't particularly hard, if a person had done the work, but they had only three questions on them- just enough to fail someone if they hadn't done the assignment.  As Via had not.  A paper was passed back among the rows, and Via looked at hers and sighed.  Given her outside knowledge of the Gundam pilot's escapades, most people expected her to ace the course.  Little did they know that when it came to the Eve Wars, she was close to totally clueless.  Everything she had learned from the disks contradicted the book and were amazingly opinionated.  Via could only wonder, based on what she had learned the night before, if there was a reason that the disks were so contradictory.  Besides all that, Via knew nothing of the battles and events that Duo Maxwell hadn't known about or been part of and she wasn't about to read the book to correct that ignorance.  It was easier to listen to her great grandfather ramble on about ceilings than to read about all the crap in her books.

"Question one," she murmured to herself.  "The battle of meteor on September third, after colony 195.  Name who involved in the battle and explain the name of the battle."

Via frowned.  No answer for that one.  Onto the next.

"Two.  The original Gundam.  What was it called, who created it, and who was the first one to pilot it successfully?"  Again, no answer.

"Three.  The so-called 'Great Destroyer.'"

Via tapped her pen against her chin.  Obviously the great destroyer hadn't crossed paths with Duo very often.  She couldn't remember him talking about any destroyers, much less a great one, and having only skimmed through the book once or twice, she wouldn't even know it if she had read it.  She frowned.  okay.  Process of elimination.  Who had Aristo mentioned so far in the unit?  Zechs, Relena, Relena's dad, Trieze, Heero, Duo, Lady Une, and some guy named Otto.  Who was known for breaking stuff up-who didn't already have a nickname?  Zechs was the lightning count.  Relena was the pacifist freak, so Via doubted she would be called the 'Great Destroyer.'  Relena's dad was another peace out guy.  Treize was the wizard of OZ, Duo was Shinigami, and Heero was the Perfect Soldier.  That left Otto and Lady Une.  Via raked her brains and smiled.  Of course.  Lady Une.

She scribbled down her only answer as Mr. Aristo began collecting papers.  She realized belatedly that this was the only answer she had offered, but there was nothing she could do about it now.  She rested her head on her desk, hoping that Mr. Aristo would lose the papers between now and before he graded them.

Mr. Aristo got back up to the front and lay the papers on his desk, looking around at all of his students.  "Billy.  What was the Battle of Meteor?"

Billy hemmed and hawed nervously.  "Um... Gundam pilot extraordinaire?"  The class giggled and Billy looked over at Via, who shrugged and smiled.  If it had been her, she would have accompanied the giggling with a bow, but Billy wasn't one to flaunt great stupid answers as she was prone to do.

"No."  Aristo shook his head.  "Siri."

"The Wing Gundam was thought at first to be a meteorite as it entered Earth's atmosphere.  The battle was between Zechs and Heero Yuy and it marked the beginning of Operation Meteor."

Via rolled her eyes at her friend.  Obviously someone had read the chapter.

"Excellent.  Billy, you try this one.  What was the original Gundam?"

Billy grinned and Via got the feeling that this was one of the ones he knew.  "Tallgeese, made by all five of the alpha-doctors.  It was piloted by Zechs Marquise."

"Good."  Aristo nodded, looking around.  He smiled.  "Via.  The 'Great Destroyer.'"

"Um..." Via hesitated.  "Lady Une."

The class burst into wild laughter and Via let out a mock chuckle.  Okay.  One down.  So who was the other choice?  Otto?  Even Mr. Aristo let out a chuckle before he spoke.  "No joking now, Via.  Name the 'Great Destroyer.'"

Before she could tell him that the Destroyer had obviously been Otto, there was a knock on the classroom door.  A tall Chinese man entered slowly and Via pursed her lips.  What exactly did Khans think he was doing here?

"Excuse me, Mister Aristo, for interrupting your class," he said in his quaint accent.  Via could see most of the girls in the class looking towards him and melting as they caught a glimpse of his finely chiseled features.  "Miss Maxwell had an early dismissal."  Khans' accent, strangely, sounded more imposing to Via than it had last night, or even a moment ago.  Strangely foreign, but not in a good way.  Threatening, maybe.

Mr. Aristo frowned.  "Do you have a pass for her?"

Khans narrowed his eyes, pointing a finger at Via's bruised cheek.  "That is her pass."

Mr. Aristo examined Khans warily, then gave a reluctant nod.  "Very well.  Miss Via?"

If only looks could kill, Khans would have dropped dead by now.  Between Via's accusatory glare and Mr. Aristo's disarrayed, displeased, and obviously annoyed smile, Khans would have been six feet under and pushing up the daisies.

Gathering her things together, Via tossed her hair pertly.  "Whatever," she mumbled, stalking out the door behind Khans and ignoring the surprised looks she was getting from everyone.  Usually Via was pleased to get out of class, no matter what it was for.  As the door shut behind the pair, she moved to face him.  "What do you want now, Khans?  You've got the disks already.  What else is there to take from me?  My honor?  My life?"

"It is really quite simple."  Khans shrugged his shoulders haughtily, leading her quickly down the hallway toward the front door.  "It will be best if you cooperate."

"With what?"  Someone cleared their throat over by the wall, and Via swiveled to face them.  She narrowed her eyes at the strange woman who stood in the shadows.  "Who are you?"

The woman had dark skin and couldn't have been younger than thirty years old.  She stood awkwardly against the wall, watching Via carefully.  "_She is the Maxwell girl?  Isn't she a bit young?"_

"Hello?  Are you listening to me?  Who are you?"

Khans cut in.  "She's not even a year younger than the boy.  She simply looks young."

Via stomped her foot.  "Stop ignoring me!  Who _are you?  What's going on?"_

Someone else spoke up, but this voice Via recognized.  "Her name is Natasha."  Chance stepped forward.  "Think of her as a friend."

"Chance?"

"You'll have to accept my apology later because there's really no time to explain everything.  I'm sorry."

"But what--" Via started, but Khans interrupted her by forcing a cloth over her nose and mouth.  One short breath and Via realized that this wasn't exactly a social call.  Letting out a small cry, Via fell into total blackness.

**--to be continued--**


	7. Chapter Seven

Forever

**PART SEVEN:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***************

Everything around Via was dark, and she was cold.  She wanted to rub her eyes, but found that she couldn't move without pain flooding through her.  Via wondered vaguely if this was what death was like, but banished the thought as soon as it came.  There was no way death hurt that much.

"I think she's awake."

Via shifted uneasily, all of her muscles screaming at her in irritation.  She didn't recognize this voice, but it sounded comfortable.  Something cool touched her forehead, and she let out a small moan of surprise.  Something spoke to her in Chance's voice this time.

"Can you open your eyes, Via?"

"Let her rest.  That drug did a number on her system."

"I thought you said the drug would be safe," Chance protested quietly, in a strange tone.  Via cracked one eye open to see a man, almost sixty years old, with disappearing gray hair, tanned skin and dark eyes standing over her, a long white lab coat covering most of his body.

"It should have been fine," the man said.  "It was just supposed to make her lose control of her mobile functions so you three could remove her as quickly and quietly as possible, as I told you it would do.  My guess is that she either had an allergic reaction to the drugs fumes or some sort of outside force altered the drug drastically."

Chance ran a hand through his hair.  "Cheery thought, especially when you consider all the stuff that's been happening here lately.  So knocking her out wasn't supposed to happen?"

"Nor was the slowed heart rate.  But we couldn't foresee that."

"What in the name of Shinigami is going on here?" Via asked with a low moan, too tied to even open her eyes all of the way.  Her voice sounded strained.

Chance moved into her view.  "Well, you're alive.  I guess that's a plus."  He smiled.  "You really do take after your great grandfather, don't you?  Even when you've been kicked, you want to know everything that's going on."

"Let's just say I don't like being kept in the dark."

"Fair enough."  Chance's smile faltered.  "Do you want to hear about what's happening?  You won't like it and I don't want you any madder than you already are."

"I'm fairly pissed off as it is.  I'm simply too tired to strangle you right now.  So I doubt anything you say could make me any worse."

"Good, I guess."  Chance hesitated.  "Are you sure you're too tired to strangle me?"

"Fairly positive, yes."

There was a long pause.  "Okay, it's like this.  As you've probably figured out, Khans and I took your disks last night, when we ran out of your house."

"No, really?  I never would have guessed."

"Right, that's what I thought.  We brought the disks back here, to our base, and did everything we could to decode them.  With eleven operators on the job, it didn't take us long to go through every single one of them.  But all we could get was a scrambled voice in a jumble of static that sounded like it was laughing at us.  And we really need the stuff on those disks.  So Khans decided we should get you to figure the things out for us, since you seem to know them backwards and forwards and upside down.  It didn't take long for us to get back down to the colony and even less time to get you.  The plan was to drug you and get you to some safe place on the colony where you could help with the disks.  But something went wrong, and the drug Khans made you inhale knocked you out instead of whatever it was supposed to do, as well as decreased your heart rate, so we had to bring you back up here to our base."

"Great."  Via sighed.  She wasn't hurting as much now, which she considered to be a good thing.  "So where am I now?"

The older man was the one who answered.  "You are in the medical bay of our satellite strategy base.  Currently we're somewhere near Mars."

"We're in space?"

"Yes."

Via paused, then grinned.  "Cool!"

Chance looked puzzled.  "You aren't upset that we kidnapped you and took you to outer space?"

"Oh, I'm plenty upset," Via told him.  "See, I'm just tired and happy that I'm in space.  Once the shock wears off and I realize that I've been kidnapped, I'll hurt you.  Badly.  You should probably run far, far away before I can get a hold of you."

She heard Chance sigh.  "Maybe I should just show you the hangar now, since you're already planning to beat me senseless.  It'll save you the effort later."  The doctor cleared his throat, and Chance shot a look that way.  "I mean, if the good doctor thinks you're ready for the tour of the hangar."

"It's fine."  The man smiled.  "I just wanted someone to ask permission for a change."  He winked cheerfully.  "Just take it easy, little miss."

"Thanks."  Via sat up slowly, setting her feet on the floor and smiling at the doctor.

Chance smiled timidly, leading her out of the room.  "The hangar isn't much," he told her.  "But I guess it's one of the most important rooms in the entire base.  We've all put our lives into it.  Come on, I'll introduce you to the Gundams."

As he led her out the door, Via looked briefly over her shoulder, back to the window that proved she really was in space, for the first time in her memory.  As she followed Chance down the hall, a lump settled in her throat when the view disappeared.  For the very first time, she was off her humble home colony, away from the troubles of school, her uncles, friends...  And yet she didn't feel happy _or sad about the entire situation.  Just kind of... empty._

After a brief while, Chance threw open a door.  "This is it."

The hangar was green.  Via suppressed an urge to giggle at the bright, fluorescent décor of the war room, since she gathered that Chance was rather fond of the place, but she couldn't stop a smile.  Besides, it _was pretty ridiculous looking._

Via quickly got over her initial amusement and gasped.  There were three other people in the room, drinking coffee and laughing in a little glass room to one side.  Everywhere there were heaps of mechanical tools and engines, a dream to any machine-interested person like Via, and directly to her left were six closet-like enclosures.  Four of them had a large sheet of metal shielding the inside from view and one was empty, but the first one…  Via could see a large mobile suit, at least twice the size she had imagined it would be.  White-feathered wings enveloped it.

"Is that…?"

"Wing Zero, customized by Heero Yuy--and several other people as the years went by."  Chance smiled.  "It's mine, now.  Rules of our organization state that the suits are inherited by the closest living relative, and I guess I'm as close as they come in our family line."

"Which one is Khans'?"

Chance's smile dimmed a little, but Via noted that he was regarding her with interest.  It was warranted, she supposed.  She had just been kidnapped, and here she was, acting agreeable and interested instead of aloof and disagreeable as she should have been.  That had to be a little bit strange.

"It's the second from the end.  It's covered right now, since it's not being used, but we can look at it later.  The empty hangar to its right is Sandrock's place, but Natasha, one of Quatre's grand-nieces, is probably out on patrol for right now."

"And the others?"

Chance waved that away.  "Not now.  Look at the numbers written on the wall, near the Zero hangar.  Do you know what they mean?"

Via squinted at the numbers and something clicked in her mind.  She smiled.  "Maybe."  She made a mental note to check something later on, if she could.  "So where's the junk heap you want me to fix?"

Chance shifted uneasily.  "Yeah.  It's in the sixth hangar.  It's kind of…" He sighed.  "It's probably beyond repair, but it's a shot in the dark.  Our engineers here can make basic repairs, but this suit hasn't been able to run properly for years now.  It's virtually useless to us unless we can make it work at all.  When I came to the colony, I was supposed to be doing undercover research on someone working for the OZ organization, but when I found out about you, I reported back to here and they told me to try and see if you could help."

"Stop with the small talk.  Which suit is it?"

"Well…" There was a long pause.  "It's Deathscythe."

Via's blood flared.  "You broke _Duo's Gundam?"_

Chance cringed.  "Technically, according to our rules, it's really _your Gundam, Via.  Being Duo's closest living descendent."_

This took a minute to process.  "You wrecked _my Gundam?" she shrieked._

"It's not really _wrecked, Via.  It's just kind of... not working."_

She swore.  "So you dragged me up here to kick a Gundam that's technically mine into shape so you all can use it to murder a bunch of people?  Beautiful…"

Chance hesitated.  "Something along those lines."

"Well, it's not going to work that way.  I'm taking my disks and going home, you understand?  You aren't they guy I thought you were, Chance, you know that?  You're nothing more than a killing machine.  Like Heero."

"Quiet, Via."  Chance lay a finger on his temple.  "I'm not the person Heero was, and I _never want to be like that, not ever.  And you don't understand.  The people who die for our cause aren't as innocent as you seem to think they are.  People know what they're getting into, and a majority of the people who end up dying would destroy the colonies if they could."_

"Get a life."  Via was about to turn and leave when a red light came on and a mechanical voice began to chant a warning.

"Incoming flight suit, authorized 04-a0cxym.  Please evacuate the area authorized 04-tpul13hz.  Repeat, authorized flight suit 04-a0cxym is entering authorized area 04-tpul13hz.  Please evacuate area 04-tpul3hz as quickly as possible."

Chance frowned and handed something to Via.  "Put this on over your nose and mouth," he told her shortly.

"What is it?" she asked hesitantly, putting it on as Chance had instructed.  Chance did the same.

"Air mask.  Sandrock is coming in, and when the hangar opens a lot of stray particles are going to be exchanged, some of which could be deadly.  It's best not to try and find out."

"Sandrock?"

"Natasha's Gundam."  He pointed to a clear window over by the spot Wing Zero was in.  "Watch through there."

Via followed his finger and watched the black sky.  After a moment, a white streak that seemed to attract the starlight to it appeared in a furious blaze of fire and light and Via gasped.  It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her life, and she tried desperately to implant the image in her mind before it could disappear.

Once the view was gone, there was a long creaking nose of metal scraping against metal.  Chance took a step back, towards her, hands grasping her arms loosely.

"The doors are opening up top," he explained quickly.  Via nodded.  The sound was almost deafening and Via resisted the urge to cover her ears.  She bit her lip under the mask, trying to remind herself to stay strong.

Another moment passed and the noise ended with a loud thud.  The ceiling opened, split in two, and a metal platform lowered, hefting Sandrock to its spot on the floor of the hangar.  Once the platform was down all the way, the ceiling returned to its previous position and both Via and Chance removed their masks.  A hatch on the suit opened and Via saw a slim woman slide out and lower herself to the floor by a thin rope.  Via shrank back as the woman approached, helmet under her arm, recognizing her to be the same woman who had helped abduct her before.

"Natasha, how did the patrol go?"

Natasha shrugged, wrenching off her red flight suit.  Her blond hair flashed against her extremely tanned skin and her green eyes flickered.  "Looks pretty calm out there right now, which I find a little strange.  But perhaps things have gotten better since last night."

"Yeah.  That would be nice."  Chance grinned.  "Oh yeah.  Natasha, meet Via.  Via, meet Natasha.  And now that formal introductions are over, let's get down to business."

"Which would be?"  Natasha narrowed her eyes at Via's scowling face.  "Oh.  That.  It was your job to explain the situation to her, Subduar."

"I know."  Chance shrugged.  "She didn't want to listen to me, between my admission to kidnapping and her accusations of murder."

"I wonder why."  Natasha sighed, turning to Via.  "We need you to analyze the Maxwell disks and tell us how to put Deathscythe back into working order.  In return you may have one boon.  Anything you want--within proper reasoning."

"What if I refuse?"

"Then I will tell you that you know too much and we will dispose of you.  It's up to you, Miss Maxwell, but the choice is easy enough."

She narrowed her eyes.  "No."

Natasha sighed.  "Very well.  Subduar.  Shoot her."

Hesitating only slightly, Chance pulled a gun out of the back of his jeans and leveled it to Via's temple.  Via's eyes widened.

"Whoa, hold on here!  Never mind; I'll do it!"  She sighed, relieved, as Chance replaced his gun in the back of his jeans.  "I didn't think you would actually kill me!"

"I always keep my promises," Natasha said, walking past her towards the door.  "Get used to it, because you're going to be working with us from now on."

As Natasha left, Via turned to Chance, scowling.  "You were actually going to _kill me!"_

"Only because you wanted me to," Chance muttered.  "You shouldn't have challenged her like that.  Natasha doesn't joke around."

"I noticed," Via said sourly, crossing her arms over her chest.  "But you were actually going to _shoot me!"_

"I've shot people before.  I didn't necessarily dislike some of them either."  Chance dropped the subject there.  "Come on.  I've got to formally introduce you to Shatajit."

"Which one is he?  Does he want to kill me, too?  Is he Trowa's descendant?  We seem to have everyone else covered."

"Hardly."  Chance smiled faintly.  "Shatajit is Rashid's great-grandson.  The Maganac.  One of the only three currently in the company."

"Oh.  Is he a jerk like Natasha?"

"No, actually.  Shatajit's okay.  Odd at times, but okay."  Chance smiled.  "I think you might get to like him."

"Whatever."

"He's the ship's cook."

Via's face lit up.  "Really?  Great, I'm starved!"

"I thought that would be the case."  Chance smiled.  "Come on.  We'll get you fed, but right after that we'll need to get to work.  I figure that the first thing I'll do is show you the interior of one of our Gundams--possibly Wing, if I'm allowed to breach the current access code on it.  Khans seems to think it's his duty to keep Wing in good shape, so I'm only allowed in it when I've been given boarding permission.  I'd have to say that our best bet would be Heavyarms."

"Trowa's Gundam?"

"Right.  His legacy died with him, I'm afraid, so it doesn't see much action anymore, but the suit is still in pretty good shape.  We think of it as an emergency Gundam."

Via didn't say anything.  All of this information…  Well, it was a lot to absorb in the first twenty minutes of her arrival, and the fact that Chance had been more than willing to shoot her was a bit bothersome.  But a lot of things seemed to be happening all around her, and Via really did not have the time to worry about little details like that all day.  Besides, Chance's pace was quickening, and Via knew better than to get left behind in a place she hardly knew.

She'd made that mistake once or twice with her uncle and she'd learned her lesson well enough.  Her uncle had taught her a lot of things, usually by way of his fists, but this one had stuck.  You don't ever want to be left behind, because someday people might not stop to let you catch up.

**--to be continued--**


	8. Chapter Eight

Forever

**PART EIGHT:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

The mess hall itself was clean, with several benches and tables littering the place and a few trashcans placed strategically around, near the walls.  There were no windows, which Via thought a pity, but the overall friendliness of the atmosphere made up for that.  There was a wooden door on one wall and a long opening, leveled at about waist height, where a sort of counter was placed.  A tall pile of plastic trays stood at one end of the counter.  All in all, the place reminded Via of her school cafeteria.  Someone was mixing a bowl of batter, resting the bowl on the counter, and Via's attention focused on the tall, well-muscled man almost immediately.

Shatajit was older than Via had expected he would be.  The man was just barely over forty, but every other descendent she had met was no older than thirty, at the most, and Via had been expecting the trend to be about the same throughout.  She quickly discovered, however, that this was not so.  There was no doubt of Shatajit's Arabian ancestry, what with his dark hair, eyes, skin, and beard, but he had a sort of youthful vigor to him that gave Via the initial impression that he was only twenty or so.  On closer inspection, the gray hairs that laced his hair and beard were an obvious hint of his impending age and tired wrinkles slowly amassed on his brow and around his eyes.  His cook's whites were spotless, despite the hint of melee around the kitchen area itself, and Via, looking into this older man's eyes, couldn't help but feel secure in this big, dangerous base.  Shatajit, she guessed, would be her best bet when it came to support in this lonely place.

He smiled at her when they walked in, but he didn't let his eyes stray too long from whatever it was he was cooking.  Chance led Via to the counter.

"Shatajit?  This is Via Maxwell.  You've probably heard of her."

The older man examined Via briefly, flashing her a wide grin.  "So this is the little rascal that everyone's been wondering and talking about, eh?  I didn't think you'd  be quite so young, Vi, but I've got to say that you're a pretty little thing.  You look a little bit like your grandfather did."

"You knew him?"  Via quickly decided that she liked this guy.  For one thing, he was one of the first people she'd met since she'd been in space that actually spoke to _her and not to Chance.  He didn't try to speak as though she wasn't there at all.  And for another thing, he called her Vi.  The fact that the only person who had ever called her Vi before was her father made the name sound strangely comforting, even coming from this old stranger._

"Not long," Shatajit told her with a soft smile.  "But I remember that he was a fine old man, even back then.  He was only with the company for a brief time, but, of course, that was the case with most all of the Maxwells, I'm afraid.  Your breed doesn't usually stick around very long.  It's a pity, though.  I always thought that your family had some of the best lineage I'd ever seen.  And you all had a strange proclivity to look like the original Duo."

"I've noticed that.  And if I hadn't by now, everyone who has ever read a history book would have decided to point it out at least a hundred thousand times." Via grinned cheerfully.  "So what do you have to eat in this joint?"

Shatajit laughed, and his laugh filled the room like massive bells.  "Another trait you Maxwells seem to share--you all think on your stomachs""  Shatajit set down his mixing bowl and disappeared a minute into the kitchen.  He came back quickly.  "Well, we've got some sort of processed cow meat you may like.  I've never been too fond of the stuff myself, but I've heard it's all the rage down on the colonies.  What do you call it?  Hamburger?"

Via grinned.  "Can I have that?  With a bun, ketchup, lettuce, and tomato?"

Chance looked appalled.  "Via!"

"What?  Shatajit said it himself--we Maxwells think of food first and courtesy later.  Chill out a little, Chance.  I still haven't quite forgiven you for trying to shoot me."

Shatajit gave Chance an odd look.  "You're calling yourself Chance now, Subduar?"

Chance shrugged.  "It works.  And it's better than Subduar."

Via's eyebrows lifted.  "I take it Chance isn't your regular pseudo-name."

"No."  Chance looked a little bit put out, and Via decided to drop the subject.  Shatajit's glance shifted from one teen to the other before he shrugged and smiled, disappearing behind his counter.

"One cow-burger coming up, Vi!"

Chance took Via's arm and led her to a table.  "We have about ten minutes until everyone else comes in for the evening meal.  In the company we don't necessarily have specific meal times, but it's easiest on everyone if we all come in bunches, so everyone normally ends up eating right around the same time as everyone else."

"Neat."  Via looked around briefly.  "Is the food any good?"

Shatajit appeared out of nowhere and laughed, setting down a plate on which a hamburger was resting, bun, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, and all.  "I guess you'll just have to judge that for yourself, Vi.  As the French say it sometimes, bongo appetite!"

Chance snorted.  "Only if they have incredibly bad language skills."

Shatajit smiled.  "Says the boy who has never taken a French class in his life.  I would know; I was there."

"I still know that it's not said 'bongo appetite.'  That's just ridiculous."

Via suddenly felt as though she had to intervene to avoid witnessing an argument.  "That was quick cooking," Via observed, eyeing the food with anticipation.

"It's magic."  Shatajit grinned, sitting down beside Chance.  "You might want to let it cool a bit before you bite into it, though.  The microwave is a bit old, from around the AC 200 era, but it still heats things up hotter than you want them to be.  Someday one of the people here will get their tongue burned off or something and try to sue me.  It'll be just my luck if it's someone who can."  Shatajit shrugged, looking back into the kitchen with a smile on his lips.  "Nifty little thing."

Chance lifted an eyebrow, obviously intrigued.  "There's a microwave back there?"

Via grinned.  "Don't spend a lot of time in the kitchens, Chance?"

"No.  There's a microwave back there?" he repeated, frowning at Shatajit.

"Surprise."

"Then why, when Natasha gave me cooking duty a few months back, did you make me warm up that meaty stuff in a pot of boiling water?"

"I guess it slipped my mind."  Shatajit smiled at Chance and turned back to Via, who was poking the burger with a pout, waiting for it to cool down enough so she wouldn't burn her mouth on the first bite.  "I heard you had a rough trip coming in, Vi."

"Apparently it was someone's bright idea to drug me."  Via eyed Chance suspiciously.  She couldn't remember if he'd said anything about him being the one whose idea it was or not.  For all she knew it could be the doctor's!  "And someone messed with the dosage."

"We think."  Chance frowned at Via.  "She tends to assume too many things too quickly, Shatajit.  You'll learn to ignore that after awhile."

The dark man shook his head.  "She might have a point, Subduar.  Or what is it now—Chance?  Whatever it is, we can't ignore the theory that maybe someone did fool with the dosage.  It's good that she's looking out for herself--she's a Maxwell and Maxwell's don't do very well here.  Most of them end up dead, or worse."

"Great, make her even _more paranoid.  That'll be wonderful."  Chance sighed, looking back at Via, who was happily watching them and trying to poke her food at the same time.  It was still hot to the touch and waves of steam were radiating off of it.  Satisfied, she picked it up and took a large bite and turned to face him._

"Acgooy ah degeoi oo iggno aaa o tha, bu fangs foo been converv," she said around a mouthful of burger.  Chance frowned at her.

"What?"

Via swallowed.  "I said: Actually, I decided to ignore all of that, but thanks for being concerned."

"Oh."  Chance smiled vaguely.  "No problem."

Shatajit grinned, eyes moving from one face to the other.  "Why is it I sense some definite teenage tension between the two of you?"

Chance blushed a pale pink, but Via ignored the man pointedly.  Could he _be anymore blunt?  "This burger's really good, Shatajit.  Better than what I've had at a lot of major colony franchises, that's for sure, and a lot better than I could ever do."_

"I told you that there was something magical about frozen food!"  Shatajit let out a cheerful laugh, letting his previous question be dropped.  "No one ever believes me when I say it, but frozen food is the greatest thing that ever happened to anyone who has to pull a meal together for two hundred people in an hour or less.  Take last night's dinner, for instance.  I just pulled a few boxed chicken parts out of the freezer and opened a bagged salad.  You weren't there, granted, but let me tell you that it was good.  Take my word for it.  And everyone ate chicken salad without complaint."

Chance made a face.  "That stuff was frozen?"

"Did you think I had a hen house and a garden in the back?"

"Can't you let a guy have his little dreams?  Besides, you did say you had a microwave."

A few people wandered in and Shatajit grinned, winking at Via.  "I'll catch you later, Vi."

"Bye," Via said around a mouthful of hamburger.

He left quickly, retreating to the kitchen, as Natasha came in and approached Chance.  She cleared her throat loudly.  "Subduar, you are supposed to be working on recovering the reparation information."

Chance groaned, looking up at the older woman.  "I'd rather be cleaning the bathrooms."

"That can be arranged."  She frowned at the half a burger that still rested on Via's plate.  "Red meat will kill you."

Via shrugged.  "So will a well-aimed bus.  What's your point?"  She took a large bite out of her burger and swallowed.  Then she smiled happily at the blond woman, holding out the remaining portion.  "Want some?"

Natasha scowled and looked pointedly at Chance.  "Get started on your duties or I'll make sure to arrange that latrine clean up for you," she said sharply before stalking away.

Chance frowned.  "She's in a bad mood.  I wonder why."

"If  I suggested that it was a girl thing, would you cringe?"

"Probably."

"Then I won't suggest it."

"Good."  Chance smiled at her.  "Whenever you're done, we can get on with what we have to do.  No matter what I tell Natasha, cleaning the johns isn't my idea of a great chore."

Via laughed, swallowing the rest of her burger.  "Let's go!  I want to play with the Gundams!"

**--to be continued--**


	9. Chapter Nine

Forever

**PART NINE:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

***********

The inside of the Heavyarms Gundam was cramped and Via was forced to stand outside of the Gundam on a metal platform while Chance showed her what each button and lever was for and directed her on how to turn the mobile suit on and off.  Via didn't appreciate the lesson; it all _looked simple enough and she was almost positive that she would have been able to pilot the suit without any of Chance's instructions, but Chance insisted that she be shown._

"It's not as simple as it looks," he'd told her, smiling.  "If you don't know what you're doing it can kill you."

So here she was, watching Chance pull and press every button he could without actually turning the suit on (insisting that it was dangerous for both of them if he started he Gundam when he had the cockpit door open), bored into a coma and irritability wishing that it was her turn.  Looking at the control panel made her fingers twitch; most technological implements could do that.  She frowned, easily letting herself ignore everything that Chance was telling her about the Gundams.  She'd been pretending to listen for almost a full hour, taking note of nothing Chance had said except for the bit about how to turn the Gundam on and how to open the cockpit itself.  So, instead of paying attention, Via tried to sort through what she'd learned that day.

The Gundams were still around, obviously, and, for the most part, fully operational.  She could only imagine what people would say if they knew that everything they'd always been told about the legendary mobile suits' destruction was a lie.  Probably not the same thing she'd done—decide to help this organization fix a broken war machine.

Why was she trying to help them, anyway?  Via frowned.  The very idea of fighting with mobile suits horrified her--knowing that two enemy organizations were using them for exactly that was, to her, unthinkable.  So why help them?  Besides her ancestry, of course.  Sure, Deathscythe was technically _hers, according the rules of this organization, and everyone here had some sort of connection with the original Gundam pilots (even the workmen who ran around the place doing odd jobs, she'd discovered), so that for the first time in her memory she actually fit in somewhere, even with the Maxwell look, but…_

That was why she wasn't too worried about getting out of this place, she knew.  She liked the stars, of course, and she liked this place a lot better than she liked her home on the colony.  Here she was among her own, the people who knew what it was like to be remembered because of their parentage alone, not with a lousy school and an uncle who liked to swing his fists a bit too often.  She still had the painful bruises and cut lip to remind her what it was like back home, with her uncle.  She knew that Billy and Siri would be wondering where she had gone and when she'd be back, and she did already miss her two best friends, but this...

She would trade all of that, even her popularity and somewhat good grades, just in order to be in this place forever.  Being with the ancient Gundam mobile suits felt right to her.  Eating Shatajit's highly esteemed frozen food felt right.  Chance and Khans and even Natasha…  It all felt _right.  As if she belonged here.  For the first time in her life, Via felt like she was a part of something more important than even a basketball team.  She was with other people who knew what it was like to be important only because of who they'd had as parents.  And that, she knew, was what kept her from yelling and throwing a tantrum and refusing to cooperate._

Well, that and the fact that Chance was ordered to shoot her if she didn't agree to go along with their plans.  And he had seemed like such a nice guy, too…  She sighed, making Chance look up at her and smile kindly.

"It's boring to listen to, isn't it?"

"A little," Via said, shrugging her shoulders.

He laughed.  "I thought so too, when I first learned this stuff.  And I was only four—imagine how hard that was for me!"  He smiled again.  "Trust me though, it helps to know all the most boring details, even if all you're going to be doing is trying to see what's wrong with Deathscythe."

"Whatever," she said with a shrug and a smile to let him know she was kidding around with him.  He grinned, moving out of the cockpit to join her on the platform.

"How would you like to try it?"

Via's violet eyes lit up.  "I get to play with the Gundam?"

"It's just Heavyarms--don't get _too excited.  If you turn on it'll move more than a foot, unlike Deathscythe, but the right arm weighs a couple tons, which you have to support by yourself, so even if you managed to get it in the air you wouldn't go very far without the support your arm needs to pilot."  He grinned.  "Natasha and Khans won't be able to yell at me __too much if they catch you.  It's not as if you could go anywhere without an arm brace--even Khans needs one of those if he's going to pilot this suit.  And this way you can be inside a suit that works so you know what's wrong with Deathscythe—you can compare the two.  There aren't many aesthetic differences between __any of the Gundams."_

"I thought I was just supposed to analyze Duo's disks for you."

Chance eyed her.  "Wouldn't you rather work on it yourself?  Deathscythe Hell is technically yours, after all."

"Plus you don't think I'll be able to do anything and plan on giving your technicians a break, right?"  She laughed at the look on his face.  "I know better than to assume you're just going to give me a ticket out of here, especially since I bet you know just how much I hate the idea of keeping all of this from the public.  You know about the report I'm supposed to be doing on Duo's journals—I think Aristo might consider giving me an A if I unveiled one of the myths covering the history books.  It's a lot more likely that you want to get this itch out of my system before you send me back to the colony with a reprimand and a slap on the wrist if I tell anybody about what I saw while I was here.  That way you can have access to my disks and still get rid of me when you're done using me."  Via grinned.  "What do you think Aristo will do when I present my report to the class?  The legendary Gundams are still in existence…"  She laughed.  "That sounds like a newspaper headline."

Chance hesitated.  "Via, about Mr. Aristo…"

"What about him?"

"He's..."

"Anal?  I know."

Via expected him to laugh at that, but the serious look on his face never flickered with any amusement at all.  "No.  Via, Mr. Aristo isn't quite the--"

A voice from down below made him stop.  "Subduar!  Are you up there?"

Chance peered over the edge.  "Amber?  What are you doing in the hangar?"

Via frowned, looking over at the girl Chance was talking to.  She was tall and thin with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair that she wore in two short braided pigtails and wore a pair of black flight pants and a blue peasant blouse, an outfit Via would have loved to own herself, and she didn't look at all pleased with Chance.  Via guessed that she was about the same age as she, around seventeen.

"I was looking for you!  Khans wants to see the Maxwell girl soon so she can check out those disks--is there any way you can stop playing her babysitter for twenty minutes so that can get done?"

"Yeah.  Tell him that we'll be along in a little while."  Chance pressed a button on the platform and it started to go down.  Via hung onto one of the railings--she wasn't too comfortable with the thing moving yet.  It was fine standing still, but the idea of going up and down on one of them made her cringe.  Amber had left by the time they reached the floor, where Via hopped off gratefully.

"What's the deal with Amber?"

Chance shrugged.  "She's one of Khans' old love interests.  Once she found out about the company he invited her to stay and she's been here ever since.  I guess you could call her a kind of gofer, always going for different things and sending messages around and stuff.  She's not good for much else and you won't see her around very much.  She tries her best to keep out of the way and she's usually not allowed in the hangar at all."

Via frowned.  "She didn't look very old."

"She's not.  Eighteen, max, but the colony she's from encourages early marriages and such.  She told her friends and folks that she and Khans were getting married and then ran away from home to come here.  They think that she and Khans are living a happy life together on some remote colony or another."  Chance grinned.  "The truth is that their relationship was already over before she even decided to join the company; Khans decided it would be best to keep her here anyway, since she already knew about the Gundams and everything."

"Oh."  Via frowned.  "Is that what they're going to try to do with me?" she asked, following him out of the hangar.  "Keep me here to make sure I don't tell?"  Not quite to her surprise, the idea didn't horrify her as much as it should have.

Chance frowned, stopping to face her.  "Via, your situation is a little bit different.  You're not just someone's temporary lover; you're one of the actual descendants.  I think it would be best if you stayed, sure, but not everyone is going to agree with that."  He touched the bruises on her face.  "Your uncle did that after Khans and I left, didn't he?"

Via squirmed out of range of his fingers.  "It's not important," she said, feigning a grin.  "Come on, Khans is going to be wondering where I am.  Let's go."

He sighed, stepping away.  "Fine.  We'll go."

When she later asked herself how it happened, she was never able to answer her own question.  All of a sudden she felt the space station shake too and fro as if they'd been caught in an earthquake and wasn't able to keep her balance, finally falling into Chance, who had stumbled up against the wall when the tremors started.  He was struggling to get back to his feet and let out a quiet "oomph" when Via fell against him, forcing him back to the wall.  His hands grasped her around the upper part of her arms, holding her there so she didn't fall or hurt herself, and Via bit back a scream.  Chance didn't look worried, just annoyed, and Via tried to tell herself that it obviously wasn't a situation that she should panic over.  Not yet, anyway.

After a long moment of this, the shaking finally stopped.  Chance stood up straight, looking down at her with concern.  "Are you all right?"

"Just a bit shaken," she said with a nervous grin.  "Get it?  Shaken?"

Chance didn't laugh.  "But you're all right?"

"Fine.  I'm fine," she reassured him.  "What was that?"

"Have you ever been on an airplane when it hit a patch of turbulence?"

"I don't think I've never even been on an airplane before."

"Oh."  Chance frowned.  "Then I guess I can't use that analogy.  Look, this is an old ship.  We've had it since the original pilots died and it doesn't stand up to space bumps so well anymore, so every so often we'll hit a patch of turbulence and that will happen.  This one was actually better than some of the one's we've hit lately."

"Is there any way to make it stop?"

Chance shrugged.  "It's been doing this for as long as I can remember; I guess I'm used to it.  If we wanted to make it stop we'd have to either make major reparations to the ship--meaning we'd be totally defenseless--or find someone on a colony or on Earth to build a new one with no questions asked.  Either way we're vulnerable to attack, really, so we haven't done anything about it yet.  Khans is pushing to land the shuttle on some remote colony so we can fix it up a bit, but I don't think many people want to do that quite yet."

"They'd rather wait until they think they're out of danger?"  Via scoffed.  "Give me a break."

"It's reasonable," Chance insisted.  "There's lately been a lot of attacks from the descendants of the old OZ organization who have it in for us.  More than usual over the past few months and it's got a lot of people worried."

"Like you?"

He smiled.  "Exactly.  People like me."

Via nodded thoughtfully, then decided it was time to tell him what she'd been dying to say for the last minute or so.  "Hey, Chance?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…  I…" Via shook her head.  Forget that.  Whatever she'd been planning to say could wait just a little while longer.  "Would you mind letting me go now?"

Chance blinked, confused momentarily, before he looked down and saw that he was still holding Via by her arms, where he had grabbed her to keep her from stumbling down the hall and getting hurt.  He laughed, letting his hands drop to his sides.  "Sorry.  I guess I kind of forgot."

"No problem."  She mustered up a grin.  "What were we doing before that happened?"

"Uh…" Chance laughed.  "You know, it slipped my mind.  What do you say we go back and play with the Gundams a little longer?"

She shrugged.  "Cool with me," she said, following him back to the hangar.  Neither one of them had forgotten that Khans was waiting, she knew, or where they were supposed to be going, but she didn't see the point in ruining a good thing while it lasted.  Obviously Chance didn't either.  She smiled to herself.  Another reason why she wasn't too worried about being kidnapped and imprisoned in a space shuttle—Chance was here, in space, not back at home.

One might have called it teenage foolishness, which it perhaps was, but Via wasn't quite willing to leave Chance Grien behind so she could go on living life on the colony she'd finally been able to leave.  The Gundams and the other descendants--especially Shatajit (who she cared for immensely, like the father she couldn't remember) and Khans (for whom she still supported a childish crush)—were a great side bonus, but it was her feelings for Chance, whatever they were, that were keeping her here.  All her other excuses were just that…  Excuses.  Chance was the reason she wasn't pitching a fit and she knew it.

When he smiled at her, leading her back towards Heavyarms, she couldn't help but think that he knew it too.  Wondering faintly if this was a bad thing, Via joined him on the platform, bracing herself for the upward motion which would make her wish she was back on the ground again.  Chance laughed, punching in the code.

The inside of Heavyarms, once she was sitting inside of it, all of a sudden seemed expansive.  The tiny cockpit had every button and lever imaginable within reach of her seat and it controlled a machine with enough power to destroy an entire colony in one or two blows.  Sitting inside of it, she suddenly felt very tiny indeed.  Chance stood on the platform outside, watching her.

"Amazing, isn't it?" he asked.  "But that's nothing to the feeling you get when you step inside your _own Gundam for the first time.  The very first time I stepped inside the cockpit of Wing, I felt like I was about to sprout wings and fly Heavenwards all on my own.  It's a surge of familiarity and connection that runs through you, I guess."_

"Maybe."  Via touched the panels in front of her with careful fingers so she didn't accidentally turn the Gundam on.  "I really don't know what to think.  This machinery and technology is ancient, but the suit itself seems so… unbelievable, I guess.  Like you've got so much of an astounding, infinite power in your hands that otherwise would just be… sitting here."

He smiled.  "The Gundams are a kind of magic all by themselves, aren't they?  They hold so much history in and around them and people still find them just as beautiful as they once were."

Via paused.  "Beautiful?  It's a weapon of war, Chance.  It's no more beautiful than a gun or a tank.  Captivating, yes.  Probably horrifying, and fascinating in a morbid kind of way.  But they aren't beautiful."  She leaned back in the seat, crossing her arms so she wasn't touching any of the controls.  "They may look pretty, sure, but they're ugly things inside.  Ugly, terrible, horrible things."

Chance frowned.  "I'm sorry you feel that way."  He touched the side of the cockpit's open hatch.  "I think they're beautiful, in their own way.  A thing doesn't have to be perfect in order to be wonderful, you know."  He considered her with his blue-eyed gaze.  "I think that of all people, you should realize that, Via Maxwell."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a Maxwell.  You tell me."  Chance shook his head.  "Never mind.  Pretend I didn't say anything.  You want to turn Heavyarms on now?"

"I thought it was too dangerous to do that while the door is open."

"It is."  He stepped inside with her, squeezing in behind her chair and squatting down.  "Which is why I'm coming in with you.  It's cramped, but this way I can watch you while you play around with it."

Via shrugged.  "Okay.  How do I shut the door?"

"The little lever by your right foot.  Just press it down and it will shut automatically."  He smiled.  "Remember what I told you about turning it on?"

"Besides 'don't do it'?"  Via frowned at the controls.  "It's the little red thing, right?"  She looked around.  "Wherever it went."

"Here."  Chance pointed.  "Pull that down and press the small pedal to the left of the door.  There are three over there, so press the smallest one, closest to you."

"This one?"

"Right.  Then reach up and behind you and press this button here, above my head.  That'll turn on the Gundam's power source."

"Why don't _you push it, if it's right above you?"_

"Because you're the pilot this time, not me.  You've got to do this all yourself."

"Well, that's no fun."

Chance sighed.  "Just do it, Via."

"Aye aye, Captain."  She searched for the button in question with questing fingers, accidentally bopping Chance on the head once or twice in the process, and finally managed to get the Gundam's power source turned on.  The machine roared to life all around her, lights flashing and beeping and whirring coming from every inch of the cockpit.  The cold, dead metal began to heat up and Via shifted to keep her bare skin away, not sure how warm it would get.  Chance laughed.

"Good!  Now try to work the arms."

"How?"

"Like this."  Chance reached around the chair and took his hands and hers, setting them down on the controls and covering them gently.  Via frowned, realizing just how callused his hands were.  He was obviously accustomed to working with the machines and to doing hard labor--how had she not noticed this before?  His hands curved over the controls of the Gundam as though he had been born to work the complicated mechanics of the suit.  It put Chance into a new perspective for her: just how long had he been doing things like this anyway?  Three years?  Five?  More?  He could only be eighteen or so, a little older than she, and already he had fought in battles that she'd only heard about in Mr. Aristo's boring history classes.  He had enemies, and that startled her.  What kind of teenager had enemies who could--and would--actually kill them if they could?

A teenager like Chance, Via surmised, still frowning.  It was when she felt Chance squeeze her shoulder in an attempt to get her attention that she finally stopped musing about it.  Looking at him, she mustered a smile.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

Chance grinned.  "That we could move the arms up and down a little now, but that the right arm is very heavy because of the guns, so I don't recommend trying to move it into an attack position or anything quite yet."

"Oh."  Via nodded, staring at the controls.  "Right.  So what do I do now?"

Chance replaced his hands, setting them over hers again.  "Well," he said, "you could do this…"  With those words, he pushed the lever Via's left hand rested on and the suit trembled slightly around them as the left arm moved up, coming into view and still upwards.  Via laughed.

"What did we just do?"

"Raised the arm up.  If you pull the lever all the way back down, you'll move it down.  Simple."

"How do I move it from side to side?"

Chance pointed to a red circle just within a hand span of the up and down lever.  "This little switch here.  If you want to move it side to side while the arm is going up or down, you have to reach over and hook this with your thumb and pull it up while you pull the lever up or down.  Otherwise you can just move it around by itself.  The way you move your thumb side to side as you do it will determine which way the arm goes--left or right.  It's easy."

Via grinned.  "So the arm is already up, right?"

"Right."

"Great."  Via started to move the red ring back and forth at a slow speed, getting used to the resistance it put up, then gradually increased it.  She laughed.  "Look, I'm making Heavyarms wave at everybody!  Hello down there!"

Chance laughed.  "Well, it's a start," he told her, grinning widely.  "What else do you want to do with this thing?"

"Can I try moving the right arm?"

His laughter died down as he frowned.  "That might not be such a good idea.  It's a little bit more complicated--you've got to be careful when you play with it so you don't accidentally open fire.  Plus you might hurt yourself if you push too hard."

"Get real," Via scoffed.  "What could happen?  I'm not going to break it or anything.  What harm could it do?"

He sighed.  "If you want to try it, go ahead, but I'm warning you that it's not going to be as easy as you seem to think it will be."

"Great!  Thanks, Subduar!"

Chance cringed.  "_Please don't call me that."_

Via grinned.  "Sorry.  I just wanted to push your buttons a little bit." She set her hand on the lever that operated the right arm.  "Let's see what I can do with this thing."

"Don't push it."

"All right, all right…"  Via started to push on the lever, then frowned when it didn't move much.  "Why isn't it moving any further?"

Chance looked over her shoulder.  "You're not pushing it hard enough.  Look."  He reached around and pushed on it, moving it about halfway.  Via could see that even that was a strain—the muscles on his arm were bulging and straining with the effort.

"Oh."  Via pushed on the lever again, trying to move it further.  Pushing against it with both hands, Via found that she could only move it the slightest bit--not nearly enough for it to be useful.  "Why can't I do it?  There's some sort of trick, right?"

Chance shook his head.  "No.  It's just heavy.  Hence the name--Heavyarms."

"Right."  Via sighed.  "I guess that makes sense.  So what happens if--"

"Subduar!  Get your sorry butt out here before I drag it out!"

Chance cringed.  "I think Natasha found us…" He reached around and opened the cockpit door and the two of them looked up to see a very angry Natasha standing on the platform a scant foot away from them.  Chance mustered a sheepish grin.  "Hey."

Natasha narrowed her eyes when she saw Via in the cockpit's main seat.  "What do you two think you're doing?"

Via mustered a grin that she hoped looked innocent and charming.  "Chance thought that I'd be able to work with Deathscythe better if I knew my way around the Gundams, so he offered to show me a little bit of how to work Heavyarms."

Natasha frowned at Chance.  "Why didn't you take her into Wing, then?"

"Khans changed the access code for it.  Again.  Besides, I figured you didn't want her to fly away while we still needed her here."

The blond still was not alleviated.  "Don't tell me you forgot that Khans needed to see you about the disks, Subduar."

"Uh…"

Via jumped in.  "Sorry, it must have slipped our minds."

Natasha snorted.  "I'm sure it did."  She frowned.  "Miss Maxwell, you need to come with me.  Subduar, you've got work to do today."

Chance looked affronted.  "Like what?"

"You've got to fix the left panel on Wing."

"Shatajit said he'd take care of that for me."

"Then you've got to do dish duty in the kitchens."

"I switched weeks with Jacov yesterday, remember?"

"File transfers."

"I'm good until next month," Chance reminded her, grinning.  "Face it, Natasha, you can't get rid of me today.  You and Khans have to let me into the taboo room for this meeting and let me in on what's going on or you know what's going to happen."

She shrugged.  "Whatever.  At least hurry up."

As they piled onto the platform, Via pulled on Chance's sleeve.  "What was that about?"

He shrugged.  "Natasha and Khans are the leaders of our group because they're pilots, so they're in charge of strategies and stuff, which means that I should be in charge, too.  The problem is that they think I'm still ten years old and don't want to include me in anything but they can't just bluntly tell me that they don't want me to hang with them in the taboo room where they hold all their important meetings.  So they try to pile a bunch of work on me instead so they can get rid of me."

"Oh."  Via grinned.  "I've got an idea of how _that feels."_

He smiled as the platform stopped and they stepped off onto the floor, following Natasha out to the hallway.  "Yeah, I guess you would."

The room Chance referred to as the taboo room was a dim gray color.  There were no windows, much to Via's disappointment, just a nondescript door and a white cloth covering one wall.  Facing that wall was a large table with chairs surrounding it.  Only one was occupied, though—by Khans, who was scowling at an old disk player and irritably toying with the buttons that made it work.  He looked up as Natasha entered with Via and Chance and frowned.

"It took you long enough," he grumbled in his broken English, frown lightening very slightly.  "Via, try to fix this contraption; it won't work for me.  Subduar, you have other things to do."

"No, I don't."

Khans furrowed his brow.  "Then just leave."

Via frowned, not quite oblivious to the tension that was in the room.  "I won't help you if you make him leave, Khans.  And you can't do this by yourself, can you, or else you wouldn't have kidnapped me, right?"

Khans rolled his eyes.  "What _is it about this boy?" he mumbled, throwing up his hands to display his mocking defeat.  He started to talk to Chance in Airant in what struck Via as a condescending tone but Natasha's scowl made him stop.  Via looked from one to the other, following this exchange vaguely, and wondered what was going on in this place.  Who was the one in charge of all of this anyway?  Natasha?  Khans?  Neither one?  Were they in a kind of power struggle or did they have joint leadership?  Was there someone else who they reported to?  It was all so confusing!_

The group of them took their seats, Via near Khans so she could fiddle with the disk player and Chance beside her.  Natasha sat at the other side of the narrow table, glaring at Chance, Khans, and Via.

"We thought you might know where Duo left the directions to repair the Gundams, especially the plans for Deathscythe Hell."  Natasha gesticulated towards the disk player.  "We know they're on there somewhere, or at least there's something telling us where to find them, but none of us could find such a thing anywhere."

"Is Deathscythe really so different from all the other Gundams?" she asked while she carefully repaired the disk player's frequency.  "I mean, you've seen one Gundam you've seen them all, right?"

Khans shrugged.  "Deathscythe doesn't _appear to be any different from the others, but nothing we've done has made it work in the correct way."_

"I'm almost afraid to ask how it _does work," she sighed.  "And why are you even bothering to fix it?  Chance already told me that only descendents pilot the Gundams--and only their own Gundams--except in the most extreme cases, which is why you keep Heavyarms in such good shape.  So why bother with Deathscythe at all?  Isn't one back-up Gundam enough?"_

"We do it because we can."

"No, I'm serious.  Why bother?"

"It doesn't matter, Via," Khans said with a growl.  "Just find us that information!"

Via glared at him.  "Yeah, yeah…  Did you already try disk number 74282B?"

Chance looked surprised.  "Isn't that the number on the wall in the hangar?"

"Ahuh.  The wall thing is written in his handwriting; I think that it's a hint of some sort."

"That's the first one we tried," Natasha said.  "Do you think we're stupid?  We tried it but all that's on it is a summary of Duo's breaking into an OZ base for the second time and coming out extremely successful.  That's all."

Via frowned vaguely.  "That's not what's on the disk at all, though."

"Yes, Miss Maxwell, that's what is on the disk," Natasha insisted coldly.  "We tried it _twice."_

"74282B doesn't have anything _remotely like that on it," she said again.  "Trust me on that."_

"Yes, that _is what's on--" Natasha was stopped by a wave of Khans' hand._

"Do as she says.  Trust her on this one.  She knows these disks very, very well."

Natasha opened her mouth to speak again but shut it quickly, scowling as she pulled a familiar box out from under her seat and thrust it at Via.  It was her collection of Duo's disks!  "Very well then.  Find me the disk."

"I don't feel like it right now," Via said as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms behind her head.  "Ask me again later."

"No.  Subduar?"

Chance's gaze came up from where it had been studying the old box.  "Yeah?"

"If she doesn't cooperate, shoot her."

There was a very brief two-second pause.  "Yes'm."

Natasha turned a smug look on Via.  "Now will you please find the disk in question?"

Via glared at Natasha and Khans as she pulled a disk out of the box and brandished it quickly.  "Here.  It's disk 74282B, the one labeled 'ceilings and socks', just like I said.  You all just had the player programmed so it only played one of the messages on the disk."

"That's the disk you showed the boy and I,"  Khans said, looking faintly interested.  "What do you mean there's two messages?"

"Almost every disk has two messages taped on them but you've got to change the wave formatting of the disk player in order to see them," Via said, fiddling with the disk player carefully so it would play Duo's more intricate and secret messages.  She already knew the entire disk by heart, hidden bits and all, but here she was showing what she _knew was meant to be hidden to these people, who wanted to use the information to kill who knew how many!  At least Chance didn't seem too happy with all this, but Khans and Natasha were still acting rather fierce._

Natasha looked impatient.  "Hurry it up.  For one of Duo's brood you sure are stubborn."

Via ignored that, clenching her jaw tightly.  Why was she helping them?  Peace, that's what she wanted--why was she going to help these people commit murder?  She sighed, throwing a side-ling glance at Chance and knew that she was doing this because anything Chance was doing couldn't be all _that bad…  She forwarded the disk to the appropriate spot and, with one final adjustment, she stood up, glowering, and the glowing image of Duo's room filled the white cloth that had covered one entire wall.  Via looked up to watch and mouth the words silently._

Duo cleared his throat as Wufei stalked into the room, furrowing his brow. "Maxwell, what in the name of Nataku's justice did you do with my socks?"

"Nothing, Wufei," Duo chanted in singsong, trying not to look over at the pile of white socks on his roof.  "Maybe you should go ask Heero or something.  I think it was his turn to do laundry duty."  Duo jumped off his bed and started to push Wufei out of the room.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to spill my guts and tell the world where we're hiding our Gundams and stuff."

Wufei's eyes widened.  "Maxwell, you can't do--"

Duo pushed Wufei out of the door, locking it.  "Bye, Fei-kins!" he called before turning back to the disks, wiping his brow.  "That took some effort," he mumbled, reaching for a book on his bedside table.  "And now that I've managed to freak out Fei-kins, I'm going to do some reading."  He cleared his throat.  "This is an awesome poem and if it gets lost in the sea of time I'll be really pissed, so I figure I'll save the beginning of it digitally for future generations of Maxwell's to check out."  He winked.  "If you can find the end, you'll be a better scavenger than Heero is--he couldn't figure out what I did with it.  Which is too bad, because I hid the plans and stuff for the Gundams with that half of the poem.  For safekeeping, you know how it is."

Natasha leaned forward to see the screen better.  Via smirked, anticipating the reaction she'd be able to witness from the blond, but wondered if they'd be able to figure out where Duo had hid the other end of the poem--because if they could find the end, they'd find everything they needed to fix Deathscythe.  It had taken her years to figure out what Duo had done with the other half of the poem--would they figure it out, knowing more about Duo's _real history than she did?_

"Here goes…" Duo cleared his throat.  "Look at me.  In the eyes.  Tell me the truth--no more lies.  No more sorrows.  No more pain.  Look at me.  I am nothing.  I am a shadow.  I am a dead thing that walks this earth…" He coughed again.  "And that's the beginning of the poem.  If you can find the rest of it, great!  If not…  Well, sucks to be you."  He waved his hand to say goodbye.  "See you."

The disk finished and the screen went blank, leaving Natasha and Khans to stare and gape, no more enlightened than they had been before.  Chance hid a smirk, seeing the triumphant look that flickered across Via's face.  After a long moment, Natasha scowled.

"But none of that helped us!"

"It didn't help _you," Via said with a shrug.  "It did help me, though.  A little."  She stood and stretched, yawning widely.  "Is it time for dinner yet?  I'm starved!"_

Chance grinned.  "Shatajit will be happy to hear that.  It's been almost three hours since you last ate, after all, and I could do with something to snack on myself before we get to toying with Deathscythe.  Come on, let's go to the kitchen."  He stood up and the two of them exchanged smiles, heading for the door and ignoring the protests and enraged comments that came from Khans and Natasha.

**--to be continued--**


	10. Chapter Ten

Forever

**PART TEN:**

**Disclaimers:  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.**

**Author's Note: this chapter is a present to NK-sama because I missed her birthday this year--and because I started this chapter on the day of her birthday (September 23).  Sorry I couldn't do more, NK-sama!!!**

***********

It was later that evening before Via got to see the Gundams again.  Neither she nor Chance had mentioned the disks--or Duo's poem--since the episode in the taboo room and that was just fine with Via.  Shatajit had been more than happy to cook something up for the two of them, mentioning that Chance was going to be in a lot of trouble with Natasha and Khans and that many people were still very uneasy around Via because she carried the "Maxwell brand."  Via had been too busy eating to ask about that--Chance had said something a little like it earlier, hadn't he?--but by the time she was able to talk again the subject had shifted to other things and she'd forgotten.

Now, on the platform outside Deathscythe's cockpit, Via frowned, watching Chance try to force open the cockpit door manually since he didn't have the access code for it, and wondered what the "Maxwell brand" was supposed to be.  Exactly what was so awful about being a Maxwell?  Sure, they tended to eat a lot and had big mouths sometimes, but Via didn't think that was anything to be _afraid of.  And they were often sinfully beautiful (and occasionally self-centered), but that wasn't much of a reason to hate an entire family name.  Why was the Maxwell name so feared in this place?_

Chance cursed as a piece of metal scratched his hand and he jerked back, holding his hand to his chest.  "Damn Gundam," he muttered with a scowl.

"Are you okay?"

"It's just a scratch," he told her with a shrug and a sigh.  "I wish I'd gotten the access code for this thing before we pissed Natasha and Khans off."

"Too late for that now."  Via smiled.  "Can I try?"

"Sure, go ahead.  Give it your best shot."  He stood back.  "Although I don't know what you'll be able to do that I can't."

"Ahuh."  Via reached over to the right side of the door and pushed against it, making it move a few inches.  When there was enough room for her to fit her hand in the opening, she pulled it open all the way with only a little bit of effort.  "You have to move it over first, Chance."

Chance blinked.  "Oh."

Via scrambled inside the cockpit, collapsing into the black seat, the rough material and cloth cover irritably rubbing against her skin.  "Do you people never reupholster these things or what?"

"We don't use Deathscythe enough to worry about it," Chance told her, smiling as he climbed in the cockpit behind her and shut the door.  There seemed to be a little bit more room inside the Deathscythe than there had been in Heavyarms.  "Try turning the Gundam on like you did before.  We'll see if you can figure out what's wrong with it just by doing that."

"Turn it on.  Right."  She frowned.  "How do I do that again?"

"The little red button and the small pedal by the door.  And then there's a button behind and above you, remember?"

"Kind of."  Via searched around for the red button, pressing it carefully and pushing against the pedal by the door--there was only one pedal in this Gundam, unlike the three in Heavyarms, which Via made a note to ask about later--and then reached up to search for the last button.  When she found it she whacked at it with her fingertips--this one was a lot closer to her than the one in Heavyarms had been--and listened to the power source turn on.  The lights flashed and the engines roared to life for a minute before everything shut down.  Via frowned.

"What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Chance told her.  "Deathscythe won't start--that's what's wrong with it.  If we're lucky it will run for five minutes at a time, and that's only on a good day.  Most times it won't turn on at all."

"Wow.  That sucks."

"Sometimes."  Chance smiled.  "So now that you know what's wrong, maybe you can figure out how to fix it."  There was a brief pause.  "What are you thinking about right now?"

"Why Khans and Natasha can't figure out the poem riddle."

"Oh."  Chance shrugged.  "Did you know that they've searched this suit at least sixteen times, looking for a clue to help them figure it out?  They couldn't find anything."  Her face vaulted and he gave her a sad smile.  "Is that what you were thinking about it?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"Right."  He sighed.  "So what else are you thinking?"

"That I need something to eat."  She laughed at the look on Chance's face.  "Just kidding.  I'm actually wondering how many Maxwell's have sat in this seat before me."

"Four, according to what Shatajit and Khans have told me."

Via frowned.  "Who were they?"

"Duo, for one."

She rolled her eyes.  "Besides him."

"Your great-grandfather and your grandfather," Chance continued.  "And your dad."  He smiled.  "Four Maxwells.  You make five."

Via frowned.  "My dad knew about this place?"

"And your mother.  They were both pilots for a little while, so of _course they--" Chance paused.  "You didn't know, did you?"  He sighed.  "You know, when you first told me that you knew about my heritage--Kit Grien and all that, I assumed you knew about this place.  I figured Duo would have mentioned it in his disks--it's not like he didn't know about it."  He looked at her, all the humor gone from his face.  "They died here, Via.  Both of them.  Khans told me that last night, after we left your house with the disks.  Your parents were killed by the remnants of the OZ group, the group that we're after.  And we have their wills and testaments here; Shatajit told me this morning that technically this organization was supposed to get custody of you after they died but we never took action on it."_

Via bit her lip.  "I was told they died in a plane crash.  That's why I never go on planes now."  She stared down at her feet.  "My uncle told me that.  I'd been staying at a friend's house when it happened--my parents were busy and had to leave on business a lot.  At least, that's what I was told.  I guess they came here, didn't they?"  She shrugged.  "I was only four or five years old at the time and my uncle came to the neighbor's house and he told me what happened.  Then he brought be back to his place, saying that he had custody of me now, and he yelled at me when I started to cry about what had happened.  He said that he was the only parent I was going to have from now on and that if he caught me crying about anything he'd really let me have it.  Because you can't change things.  And because big girls don't cry."  She tried a laugh.  "So I didn't."

"Via…"

"You know that he never wanted to keep me with him?  He tried to leave me at grocery stores and stuff, but after awhile I learned not to let him get too far ahead of me because he'd never let me catch up to him.  And I learned to stay away from him whenever I could, especially when he was drinking.  I mean, why stay around the house and go to school the next day with a bloody lip when you can be out with some people you call friends trying to have a good time?"  She gingerly touched her right eye, which was still covered by an ugly blue and black bruise.  "I needed some counseling when I started high school but he wouldn't sign the paper that gave the guidance counselors permission to mess with my head.  So it ended up being Mister Aristo who helped me--I had him as a history teacher every year; I think he wanted to keep an eye out for me.  I've been counting the days until my eighteenth birthday, when I can finally leave my uncle's house."  She started to laugh a little.  "And now I find that my uncle has lied to me all along and that I never had to go through that hell in the first place.  That's just great."

She felt Chance's hand rest on her shoulder but shook it off.  She knew that if she looked at his eyes right now she would start crying and that she would not be able to stop for a long, long while.  She'd never told anyone all of that before; Via wasn't entirely sure why she'd told Chance all of it now.  He didn't need to know--it didn't concern him.

"Via, look at me," Chance said gently.  When she didn't look up he reached over and put a hand under her chin, moving her to face him.  The look on his face was apologetic and pitying but strangely comforting nonetheless.  He moved some hair out of her violet eyes and she bit her lip, trying not to meet his gaze.  He edged closer to the cockpit seat, embracing her loosely.  His hand caressed the back of her head, fingers brushing through her short hair.

"Via, it's okay to cry."

That was all the permission she needed.  Clinging tightly to Chance, she started to weep into his shoulder, desperate for someone to understand what she was thinking and desperate to understand why the world had suddenly turned upside-down.

It was much later that night, after Via had been put to bed in what would be her room for the next few days, that she decided what it was she would have to do.  For her parent's sake, and for Chance's, and even for her own.  She had to do it.

She needed to reawaken Deathscythe and learn what she could do to get revenge for the death of her parents and the hell she'd been going through over the past thirteen years.  And then maybe--just maybe--everything would be okay again.  She had to do it; aside from being beautiful and hungry, the Maxwell's were vengeful people and not even four generations of peace and family was going to change that.  That was on thing that _no one could take away from her, not now not __ever, because she wouldn't let that go.  She was a Maxwell.  It was about time she started acting like one._

Via slipped from beneath the covers of the bed and stood up, flicking on the light switch as she searched the floor for the clothes she'd discarded earlier, after changing into the pajamas that she'd been allowed to borrow from Amber.  She had a good idea of where Duo had hidden those plans for Deathscythe and since everyone else was supposed to be sleeping, why not go ahead and look to see if she was right?  If she was caught she could always say that she got lost on her way to the kitchen and had wanted to see what the Gundam was like.  The only person who wouldn't believe that story would be Shatajit, who had already told her how she could get from her room to the kitchens without any trouble--it was two corridors over to the left--so that she could meet Chance there in the morning before breakfast, as they had planned.  The two of them had decided that, being the only two kids in their late teens on the ship, they had to stick together.  Especially since Khans and Natasha were still acting very cold towards the both of them, displeased with their uncooperative mannerisms.

Turning off the light, Via opened the door and padded down the hall carefully, trying to pick out even the smallest of noises in case she was about to be found.  It was hardly quiet here at night--the hallway was buzzing with the careful whir of electricity and motors and the running equipment.  The whole thing was in space, so Via supposed that it all made since.  The oxygen filter and the cloaking as well as the locked engine which kept the ship thing from being pulled into a gravitational curve had to be running constantly, else everyone would be dead before they could fix the problem.  It was hard to trace anyone's movement over the noise.

She pressed against the wall when she turned a corner and saw the glow of a light shining from beneath a door onto the hall tile.  Via edged closer, hearing voices filter out from behind the light, curious as to who was there, and pressed her ear to the outside of the door.

"So what do we do with her now?  She won't cooperate, I can tell you that much right now, and she hasn't been much help to us at all so far."  The voice sounded like Natasha's.  Via edged closer still.

"Use the boy."  That sounded like Khans.  Via recognized where she was now--this was the door outside of the taboo room, which meant that Chance probably wasn't inside.  She was close to the hangar now, she knew…  It wouldn't be all too far…

"Subduar won't kill her, you know that as well as I do.  He'll take out the gun and he may hold it to her head or wave it in the air, but you won't convince him to pull the trigger on that thing.  And we don't want to kill her--we want her to cooperate and help."

"That is not what I meant," Khans said quickly.  "They're around the same age and seem to have gotten very close since they met during the boy's mission on the colony.  Give him the assignment of wooing the information out of her.  We've already been told about her attachments to--"

"That's true," Natasha interrupted.  "What does she call him?  Chris?  Canter?  Charles?"

"Chance."  Via didn't recognize this voice at all.  "Young Miss Via calls him Chance."

"Why?"  There was a brief pause.  "Never mind.  So what now?"

"The boy gets as much information as he possibly can.  I don't like the idea of giving him such a responsibility, but I doubt that she would tell us anything of importance, considering the lack of trust she holds in either of us."

"For a good reason," Natasha said with a sigh.  "I don't like keeping her here against her will--it's against my ethical code.  It's cruel and she's gone through a lot as it is without us.  But at least this way…"

"We won't be hurting her too much?" Khans said, finishing the sentence.  "We'll be hurting her plenty no matter how we do this; my way is just the simplest."  There was a brief pause.  "The boy won't like it," he observed.

"None of us will," the stranger said carefully.  "But it is necessary if we want our organization to survive these attacks.  As it is she doesn't seem to understand that we're the good guys here.  We are the ones being ruthlessly attacked--the sake of the colonies rests on this girl, not on us this time.  This is a war, you know.  We can't let morals and ethics get in our way."

Biting her lip, Via continued quickly down the hall, not able to bear hearing any more.  She was half-sure that Khans or Natasha would jump out from behind the door and catch her and drag her in there.  It was good to know that Chance wasn't going to kill her after all, but…

She sighed, finally reaching the door of the hangar and punching in the code she'd seen Chance use earlier: "PEACE."  The door slid open with a 'whoosh' sound and Via stepped hesitantly inside, looking around the green room.  The lights were on, which she'd expected; Chance had mentioned earlier that someone was in this room 24-7 to observe the scanners and such that traced the sky for the enemy's ships, but Via didn't see anyone in there now.  Perhaps they'd stepped out for coffee.  Or were the other person in the taboo room, with Khans and Natasha.  Wherever or whoever they were, they were making this all convenient for her.

She crossed the room to face the numbers on the wall--74282B.  She was almost shocked that Natasha or Khans hadn't been able to figure out Duo's riddle on the disk--it really wasn't that hard, when you thought about it.  Not really.  She traced the numbers with her fingertip.  The first few were written in Duo's handwriting, that was for sure, but the last two digits were in the same block lettering that she'd seen on the box in the attic.  And what was it that Duo had said about Heero?  "If you can find the end, you'll be a better scavenger than Heero is," wasn't that it?  She smiled, deciding that her earlier assumption had been right, then sprinted over to the side of the room where Wing Zero was supposed to be stored.

Chance had told her that Deathscythe had already been searched countless times, so where else would Duo hide the plans that he knew would be kept safe, with the Gundams, forever?  After all, where better to hide a Gundam's blue prints than with the Gundams themselves?  And it would have to be the ideal Gundam, too.  Not Altron, that was for sure--Wufei was too possessive of his Gundam for that--and probably not Sandrock or Heavyarms, considering his relationship to those pilots.  He and Quatre had gotten along great, for the most part, sure, but there was a rift between them that neither would ever be able to cross: Quatre was a rich kid and Duo had grown up in the worst living conditions known to man, with a natural instinct to distrust the wealthy folks who had done nothing to help him.  Trowa was too quiet for Duo's tastes--the boy had said so on several occasions--and Duo wouldn't have hidden it there.  So where else would it be, if not those?

Wing Zero.  Via smiled.  To think that the plans had been under their noses all along and they'd never realized it!  What maroons...  She'd narrowed it down real quick, but they couldn't figure out that the plans weren't hidden on Deathscythe!

Now her only problem was figuring out where on Wing Zero they'd been hidden.  It wouldn't be someplace obvious--Chance or one of his descendants would have found them long before now if it had been--but it probably wasn't any place too discreet, either.  Duo's mind didn't quite work that way.  He had been the kind of person who would hide in plain sight if he could but keep it so cleverly concealed that only the sharpest eyes would be able to detect it.

Or the most highly tuned brains.  Via grinned, walking around the suit.  Where would it be?  Someplace fairly easy to reach, surely--Duo had been short, probably due to malnutrition as a child, and hadn't grown past five feet four inches, a height Via easily surpassed with her own five feet eight inches--and he didn't have access to the platform that the people here used.  If Via could trust her information, the original pilots had used some sort of rope device, but it didn't do anything more than take a person up to the cockpit.  It would have been hard to stop it halfway up or to move it around the suit.  So it was probably within reach from where Via was now.

She must have walked around the suit seven times, twining between the legs when she thought about it, and never once caught sight of anything amiss.  Groaning, Via leaned against the back of the suit's right leg, sinking to her feet.  Where was the thing?  Had she been wrong?

No, that was impossible.  A Maxwell was never wrong.  It had to be there somewhere!  She let out an angry grunt, banging her head against the suit, the wrong thing to do.  It hurt.

"Ow!"  She held her head in her hands, rubbing the area that would undoubtedly be a bump by the next morning.  Wincing, she listened to make sure no one had heard her cry out and was coming to find out what was going on.  The echoing sound that met her ears startled her and she got to her feet, turning around.  She frowned and knocked on the metal in the approximate place where she'd hit her head, and the echoing sound came again.

"Yay," she whispered triumphantly.  "I think I've done it."  She brushed her fingers against the metal of the suit's leg, feeling the indentations that had probably once been part of the poem.  It wasn't too long before she hit a button of sorts and the indentations lit up, displaying the entire poem.

_Look at me. In the eyes Tell me the truth No more lies._

_No more sorrows No more pain Look at me_

_I am nothing. I am a shadow. I am a dead thing that walks this earth._

_I am no more than a mirror A mask Of my true self Look at me_

_I want to be free. I want to get rid these bonds. I am lost_

_Never to be found. I am trapped._

_Forever._

**~Kali-Loai**

She could have cheered, stopping herself from doing so only because of the risk of being found.  She pried at the corner of the panel, finally seeing the faint lines that proved there was a door in the suit, and tried desperately to open it.  It didn't take too long--the door was old but it was still a work of art, concealed by the centuries--and Via reached inside the opening she had uncovered.  Her hand met a square thing and she pulled it out, blowing away the dust.

It was a disk.

**--to be continued--**


	11. Chapter Eleven

Forever 

**PART ELEVEN:**

**Disclaimers:**  Since this story is set about three hundred years after the Gundam characters existed, there isn't much here I don't own.  Except maybe any characters I use in flashbacks or the actual names of the characters, which pop up a few times.  Some OOC, but no yaoi.

Note: This chapter is a filler.  It's short and doesn't have a lot to do with the story; it's just providing some background on the characters and all.  I do recommend that you read it though, as it will also have some stuff about the disk Via found--and Deathscythe.  The chapter's going to change POV a few times, too, so be prepared.  This will probably be the only chapter that does that.  Every time there's three dashes (like this:---) on the page, the focus shifts elsewhere.  Sorry about that, but I made NK-sama and Blue Dragon write scenes and decided that this would be the easiest way to fit them in.  Which reminds me: thanks, guys!  I owe you one!

***********

Via couldn't sleep that night.  After replacing the panel and sneaking back to her room, she spent hours studying the disk and wondering what was on the thing--it wasn't as though she had a disk player or anything to show her the contents.  It was driving her crazy, especially since the only label on the disk displayed the word "BINGO!" in big, bold, and bright green letters.  She sighed, checking the clock on the wall.  It read six o'clock; the kitchen would be open by now, wouldn't it?  Her rumbling stomach decided that it didn't care if the place was open or not--it was going to get food and it was going to get it _now_.

Stupid stomach.  Why did it have to be so bossy, anyway?

Getting to her feet, Via stretched, yawning widely, and threw on some clothes--the same ones she had worn yesterday, when she'd been abducted.  She made a face; now she felt dirty.  It didn't take long for Via to find her shoes and, as soon as they were tied and she'd hidden the disk, she was out of the door.  She only passed a few people on her way to the kitchen and rubbed her eyes, pretending that she'd just woken up.  It didn't seem all that convincing, really, but no one stopped her and asked why she had circles under her eyes.  Via figured she could explain those away with the simple excuse that she'd had a hard time sleeping in a strange place.  Most people would believe that, unless they were smarter than she gave them credit for.

Someone touched her shoulder as she approached the kitchen door, making her whirl around to face the person.  It was Chance, wearing dark green pants and a black muscle shirt, and he looked puzzled.  "Via?  What are you doing up?"

She shrugged off his hand.  "Couldn't sleep."

He seemed to accept that as truth and took her by the elbow, steering her away from the kitchen.  "Shatajit won't be awake yet, which means that you won't be able to go to the mess hall to eat.  You'll have to do what the rest of us do in the morning--either wait until eleven o'clock for Shatajit to wake up or attempt to force the machines downstairs to serve something good.  That's usually best accomplished if you just ask for dry cereal and milk."

"You're talking like a textbook again."

Chance smiled at her.  "I guess it's hereditary.  My father used to read instruction manuals to me as bedtime stories.   I knew the manual for our toaster oven backwards and forwards before I learned to walk."

"Other kids get to hear Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Bears," Via said mockingly.  "Chance Grien listens to stories about the toaster oven's escapades."

"Close enough."

They exchanged smiles, walking down the hallway towards the stairs.

---

It was raining on colony L973--Via's home colony--and thunder crashed as Billy knocked on the front door of Siri's house.  The girl answered tentatively, cringing as she saw lightning flare in the distance.  She frowned at Billy and at the Labrador retriever he had on a leash.

"You're soaked!  And it's cold out here; you're going to get pneumonia and die," she said, opening the door and ushering him and the dog inside.  Billy shook off a lot of the rain, imitating his animal friend.  "Why is it raining, anyway?"

"You haven't heard?"  Billy frowned.  "There was a fire at the school. The colony officials decided it was pretty and fiddled with the weather control unit to put it out."

"So much rain for one little fire?"  Siri shook her head.  "So why the thunder and lightning?  I've been wondering about _that all morning."_

"To add to the creepy ambiance, I guess," Billy said with a shrug.  "But that's not why I came by.  Guess whose birthday it is today?"

Siri grinned.  "I _know_ whose birthday it is.  Should we go by and wish Via a happy one?"

"If she's even there," Billy pointed out, grumbling.  "Where did she go yesterday?  That Asian guy came and got her out of class and we haven't seen her since!"

"My theory is she was kidnapped."

Billy laughed.  "Whatever.

---

Chance walked down the hallway with Via, eating the breakfast burrito he had managed to wrestle out of the machines and stealing looks at the brunette walking beside of him.  It was remarkable just how much she looked like Duo, though more feminine, without a doubt.  She looked good, even with her wrinkled clothes, dark-circled eyes, and her cheeks stuffed with dry cereal, which struck Chance as odd, but...  He shoved that thought out of his mind and concentrated on eating.  He shouldn't be thinking about Via like that, should he?  The organization was really only using her as a pawn, after all, but it wasn't like there was anything wrong with thinking as he was...  After all, there weren't many teenagers on the ship who Chance could relate to and Via was just different enough to make things interesting.

"So what's the plan for today?" Via asked once she'd swallowed half a box of cereal.

Chance shrugged.  "Oh, I thought we could go prance through the wildflowers and sing to the animals until we were ruthlessly attacked by beings shaped like vegetables."

Via shot him a weird look.  "Say that again?"

"Just teasing.  We'll probably try to avoid Khans and Natasha for awhile longer and maybe fiddle with the Deathscythe.  Or maybe I'll finally get the chance to let you do some real piloting--that would be fun.  What do you think?"

She smiled.  "Sounds like a plan."

Mikhail, a distant relation to the Maganacs, stopped Chance as the two of them passed by.  "Subduar, Khans and Natasha want you right away."  The man hesitated.  "They don't look very pleased."

Chance sighed, partially to himself.  "Fine.  Where are they?"

"The solar.  The ask that you go alone, sir."

Sir.  Now _there was a title he didn't hear very often.  "All right, I'll be right there.  Mik, will you do me a favor and take Via somewhere to wait for me?  The lounge room or something?"_

"All right."

"Hey, why am I the one getting passed along like an old mare?" Via asked.  She sounded either hurt or pissed.  Chance wasn't exactly sure which one it was.

"Sorry, Via, but I've got stuff to take care of.  I'll get back to you, okay?"

She wasn't happy with his answer, the look on her face made that obvious enough, but it would have to do.  She and Mikhail walked away, in the general direction of the lounge, and Chance meandered off to the solar to get scolded by Khans and Natasha.

It was not turning out to be a good day.

---

Via wasn't sure quite where she was.  It might have been the lounge Chance had mentioned, it may have been a sort of study, it may even have been a library, for all she knew.  There were one or two people around, keeping away from her for the most part.  Via wasn't sure if they were doing this because she was a new face around the ship or if they just didn't like people, but she wasn't entirely certain she wanted to know.

There wasn't much to do here, wherever she was.  There was a bookshelf against one wall, but she'd already examined the titles and hadn't found anything very interesting.  There was also a sort of visual entertainment, with discs from the modern day and age and things to play them on.  She'd already seen all the movies there and the disc player on the shelf was a new one, too new to play the disc she'd found the night before.  So, with a lack of anything better to do, Via had finally just collapsed in a chair and was staring out a window.

She sighed as she looked out into the dark depths of space.  So many little sparkling stars were scattered over the black sky, lighting it up for moments at a time.  The vast void made her feel very small and insignificant…  If she'd been anyone else, it would have frightened her, but she was a Maxwell and Maxwell's don't scare easily.

Maxwell's did often get lonely, though.

She rested her cheek in her cupped hand and began to wonder what her friends back home were doing and if they missed her at all...

---

_Knock knock._

The front door of Via's house was yanked open and a gruff man peered outside, glaring at Billy and Siri with a mean look.  "Yeah?  What the hell do you two want?"

Siri coughed.  "Is…  Is Via home, sir?" she asked meekly.

"No," the man growled, "she ain't home.  And ain't likely to come back, neither, if I get my way.  If you see her, make sure she knows that she ain't welcome here!"  The door slammed shut loudly, punctuating the man's harsh words.

There was a long silence.

"This isn't like Via," Billy said finally.

"I know," Siri admitted.  "She would have called us by now, if she could have.  Do you think something's happened to her?"

"I don't know," Billy said with a shrug.  "But she can't miss much more school or she'll fail," he said, trying to lighten up the situation.  It didn't work.

"I hope she's all right," Siri said with a worried expression.

"Hey, I bet she's doing great.  Via can take care of herself, after all.  She's made sure that we knew it, too, plenty of times.  I just feel bad that we didn't get the chance to wish her a happy birthday."  Billy smiled, trying to ease Siri's worry--and his own.  "Come on," he said finally.  "Let's go."  With those words, the two of them walked away from Via's house, pulling Billy's dog along, and began the trek down the long driveway.

---

Via snapped to attention as she felt someone shake her arm gently.  "Via?  You awake?"

She rubbed her eyes and looked over at Chance, who was standing to one side of the chair she was in.  She smiled.  "Sorry.  I guess I dozed off."

"No problem."  He gave her one of those heart-melting smiles that she'd first befriended him for.  "That meeting with Khans and Natasha took a lot longer than I thought it would--it's a little after noon now.  Sorry about that."

"No problem," she replied, echoing his words.  She stood up and stretched her arms over her head.  "I needed the rest, so it was good for me.  I got to think a few things over."

He looked intrigued, one eyebrow raised in interest.  "Things like what?"

"Just things," she replied vaguely, cheeks flushed a little.  What was she supposed to tell him?  That she'd almost figured out a way to fix Deathscythe?  That she was worried about how things back home were going?  That she was almost positive that she knew what Khans and Natasha had wanted to speak with him about?  That she was quickly falling in love with him?  She could easily see how a conversation going along those lines would _not_ work in her favor.  Especially since it would help Natasha and Khans' plan to have him woo her into helping their organization out--that would only make Chance's job easier.

She was going to have to make sure that she didn't fall for him.  She would have to consider him to be her enemy, no matter what.

Chance shrugged.  "All right then.  Shatajit probably has the kitchens working at full speed now, if you want to eat some _real food.  You interested?"_

"You said the magic words," Via said, brightening.  "Of course I'm interested!"

Shatajit waved at them as they came in, but he was busy arguing with a brunette woman Via sort of recognized from the hangar technician crew.  She sat at one of the long tables in the dining hall, pretending to be involved with inspecting the tabletop.  Via, however, was really spending the time stealing looks at Chance, who had ventured up to join the long line of people waiting to be served something to eat.  She caught his eye as he glanced back at her and smiled.  He had beautiful eyes, depthless and immense, and they were captivating.  Via, however, wouldn't have admitted that under torture.  Besides, nothing could compare to his smile.  How could it?  It was hard to compare a candle's flame to a hearth fire, when one came right down to it.  If the circumstances had been any different, or if Chance was anybody else other than who he was, Via might have asked him to accompany her to the movies or dinner sometime, but...  Well, she had a hard enough time staying neutral around him as it was, so it was probably best not to complicate things _too _much.

Who was she kidding?  Things were already complicated enough as it was anyway...

It took awhile, but Chance joined her at the table with a plate loaded with food in each hand.  Setting one in front of her, he handed her a packet of silverware, which she accepted gratefully, and the two of them started to eat.  About halfway through the meal, Chance pushed his plate aside and cleared his throat.

"Khans said that it might be a good idea for you to fiddle with Deathscythe again.  He wants you to lead a team of technicians to fix it up--for some reason, he thinks you know exactly what's wrong with it."

"Maybe I do--how would you know?"

He shrugged, not meeting her eyes.  "I guess I wouldn't."

For some reason, she felt guilty for being so short with him, so she smiled.  "If it's any consolation, I have no idea what's wrong with the thing.  And why does he want me to lead a team, anyway?  I like working with machines and stuff, sure, but I've never tried tinkering with a mobile suit before."

Chance shrugged.  "I have no idea.  Maybe he has other things in mind.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he was trying to offer you a place to fit in here, but I do know better so I won't say it.  Khans doesn't think like that."

"Oh."  Via finished off her plate and gestured at his half-eaten portion.  "You going to eat the rest of that?"

"Go ahead."  He pushed it towards her.  "You'll probably be in the cockpit for most of the time--by yourself for a lot of it."

"Where will you be?"

"I've got to get some things done.  I'll hang around for about ten minutes, but then I've got to go.  I'll meet up with you later on, I promise."

"All right," she said hesitantly.  Since they were leaving her alone with the Gundam, it was fairly certain that they trusted her enough not to do something stupid, right?  "How many other people are going to be hanging around?  I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of _too many people, after all."  That wasn't quite true.  She just didn't want anyone to be around if she managed to get the Gundam to __work--she wasn't quite ready for other people to see that._

"Not too many," he promised.  "Maybe one or two technicians will be hanging out in the satellite room, but that's almost entirely out of Deathscythe's visible range."

"All right."  Having emptied Chance's plate, she placed it on top of her own and grinned.  "In that case, let's get started, okay?"

**--to be continued--**


End file.
